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Shaw, W.A. (1967) [1896], The history of currency 1251 to 1894: being an account of the gold and silver moneys and monetary standards of Europe and America, together with an examination of the effects of currency and exchange phenomena on commercial and national progress and well-being, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, reprinted by Augustus M ...
The silver real (Spanish: real de plata) was the currency of the Spanish colonies in America and the Philippines. In the seventeenth century the silver real was established at two billon reales (reales de vellón) or sixty-eight maravedíes. Gold escudos (worth 16 reales) were also issued.
The second decimal currency of 1864, with a new silver escudo worth 1 ⁄ 2 dollar, 10 reales de vellón or 100 céntimos de escudo (not equivalent to the gold escudo). The real was only retired completely with the introduction in 1868 of the Spanish peseta , at par with the French franc , and at the rate of 1 dollar = 20 reales = 5 pesetas.
For the English North American colonists, however, the Spanish peso or "piece of eight" has always held first place, and this coin was also called the "dollar" as early as 1581. After the Declaration of American Independence , the United States dollar was introduced in 1792 at par with this coin at 371.25 grains = 0.7735 troy ounces = 24.0566 g.
A commonly used currency in the Americas is the United States dollar. [1] It is the world's largest reserve currency, [2] the resulting economic value of which benefits the U.S. at over $100 billion annually. [3] However, its position as a reserve currency damages American exporters because this increases the value of the United States dollar.
In the US, the bit is equal to 12 + 1 ⁄ 2 ¢, a designation which dates from the colonial period, when the most common unit of currency used was the Spanish dollar, also known as "piece of eight", which was worth 8 Spanish silver reales. $ 1 ⁄ 8 or 1 silver real was 1 "bit". [1] [2]
The name of the currency derives from peceta, a Catalan word meaning little piece, from of the Catalan word peça (lit. piece, "coin"). Its etymology has wrongly been attributed to the Spanish peso. [2] The word peseta has been known as early as 1737 to colloquially refer to the coin worth 2 reales provincial or 1 ⁄ 5 of a peso.
The currency of the American colonies, 1700–1764: a study in colonial finance and imperial relations. Dissertations in American economic history. New York: Arno Press, 1975. ISBN 0-405-07257-0. Ernst, Joseph Albert. Money and politics in America, 1755–1775: a study in the Currency act of 1764 and the political economy of revolution. Chapel ...