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The piece of eight had the same intrinsic value as the thaler and by the end of the 17th century it too was being called dollar (and was so designated in Jamaican monetary legislation of 1738). By the mid 18th century the piece of eight was commonly known in British North America as the Spanish dollar.
The first ordinance officially devaluing the Spanish non-colonial real came out in 1642, with the real provincial debased from 67 to 83 + 3 ⁄ 4 to a mark of silver (hence, 10 reales to the dollar). Actual coins worth 1 ⁄ 2, 1, 2, 4 and 8 reales provincial (the latter worth 4 ⁄ 5 of a dollar and called peso maria) were minted in 1686 and ...
Gold escudos (worth 16 reales) were also issued. The coins circulated throughout Spain's colonies and beyond, with the eight-real piece, known in English as the Spanish dollar, becoming an international standard and spawning, among other currencies, the United States dollar. A reform in 1737 set the silver real at two and half billon reales ...
Eight Spanish Escudos (1687) The first escudo was a gold coin introduced in 1535/1537, with coins denominated in escudos issued until 1833. It was initially worth 16 reales. When different reales were introduced, the escudo became worth 16 reales de plata in 1642, then 16 reales de plata fuerte or 40 reales de vellón from 1737.
The Spanish dollar, also known as the piece of eight (Spanish: real de a ocho, dólar, peso duro, peso fuerte or peso), is a silver coin of approximately 38 mm (1.5 in) diameter worth eight Spanish reales.
The short-lived silver escudo from 1864 to 1869, worth 1 ⁄ 2 dollar and divided into 10 reales de vellón or 100 céntimos de escudo. The peseta, previously not a monetary unit but a colloquial name for the coin worth 1 ⁄ 5 of a peso , was formally introduced as a currency unit in 1868, at a time when Spain considered joining the Latin ...
Spanish American gold coins were minted in one-half, one, two, four, and eight escudo denominations, with each escudo worth around two Spanish dollars or $2. The two-escudo (or $4 coin) was the "doubloon" or "pistole", and the large eight-escudo (or $16) was a "quadruple pistole".
The dollar itself actually originated from the peso or Spanish dollar in the late 18th century. The sign "₱" is used in the Philippines. The silver peso worth eight reales was also known in English as a Spanish dollar or "piece of eight" and was widely used for international trade from the 16th to the 19th century.