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By far the leading specie coin circulating in America was the Spanish silver dollar, defined as consisting of 387 grains of pure silver. The dollar was divided into "pieces of eight," or "bits," each consisting of one-eighth of a dollar. Spanish dollars came into the North American colonies through lucrative trade with the West Indies.
Sterling silver is an alloy composed by weight of 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925. Tiffany & Co. pitcher ( c. 1871 ) having paneled sides and repoussé design with shells, scrolls and flowers; top edge is repousse arrowhead leaf design
Slang terms for money often derive from the appearance and features of banknotes or coins, their values, historical associations or the units of currency concerned. Within a language community, some of the slang terms vary in social, ethnic, economic, and geographic strata but others have become the dominant way of referring to the currency and are regarded as mainstream, acceptable language ...
The Spanish silver dollar created a global silver standard from the 16th to 19th centuries. The silver standard [a] is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed weight of silver. Silver was far more widespread than gold as the monetary standard worldwide, from the Sumerians c. 3000 BC until 1873.
The maravedí (Spanish pronunciation: [maɾaβeˈði]) or maravedi (Portuguese pronunciation: [mɐɾɐvɨˈði]), deriving from the Almoravid dinar (Arabic: المرابطي, romanized: al-murābiṭī), was the name of various Iberian coins of gold and then silver between the 11th and 14th centuries, and the name of different Iberian [[unit of account|accounting units between the 11th and ...
Traditional metal working in Mexico dates from the Mesoamerican period with metals such as gold, silver and copper. Other metals were mined and worked starting in the colonial period. The working of gold and silver, especially for jewelry, initially declined after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. However, during the colonial period ...
The name peso was given to the 8-real silver coin introduced in 1497, minted at 8 3 ⁄ 8 pesos to a Castilian mark (230.0465 grams) of silver 134/144 fine (25.56 g fine silver). It was minted in large quantities after the discovery of silver in Mexico, Peru and Bolivia in the 16th century, and immediately became a coin of worldwide importance ...
Some jewellery is plated to give it a shiny, reflective look or to achieve a desired colour. Sterling silver jewellery may be plated with a thin layer of 0.999 fine silver (a process known as flashing) or plated with rhodium or gold. Base metal costume jewellery may also be plated with silver, gold, or rhodium for a more attractive finish.