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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.
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 ...
These reales were supplemented by the gold escudo, minted 68 to a mark of 11 ⁄ 12 fine gold (3.101 g fine gold), and valued at 15–16 silver reales or approximately two dollars. This real, worth 1 ⁄ 8 dollar, was retained in Latin America until the 19th century but was altered considerably in peninsular Spain beginning in the 17th century.
On History Channel's hit show "Pawn Stars," a man came in to sell a 1907 Saint-Gaudens double eagle $20 gold coin. The coins are extremely rare, and some of them have sold for more than $1 million ...
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.
Silver coins of the 1572 type were minted with PHILIPVS IV and a 1/2-real cob was added to the usual 1, 2, 4, and 8-real denominations. There were major gold deposits in Colombia; a mint opened at Santa Fe de Bogotá in 1620, and it produced the first gold coins (cobs) in Spanish America in 1622.
As a way of honoring more presidents, the U.S. Mint began issuing Presidential Dollar coins in the 2000s. Most are worth about face value, but a couple are valued in six figures due to errors .
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