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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. It was minted in the Spanish Empire following a monetary reform in 1497 with content 25.563 g (0.8219 ozt) fine silver.
This coin, valued at eight Spanish escudos or sixteen Spanish dollars ($16), is of confusing English colonial nomenclature, called at first the "double doubloon" before settling as the "Spanish doubloon". This was disambiguated in references by calling the $4 the common doubloon or simply doubloon, and the $16 coin the doubloon of eight ...
$ 1 ⁄ 8 or 1 silver real was 1 "bit". [1] [2] With the adoption of the decimal U.S. currency in 1794, there was no longer a U.S. coin worth $ 1 ⁄ 8, but "two bits" remained in the language with the meaning of $ 1 ⁄ 4. Because there was no 1-bit coin, a dime (10¢) was sometimes called a short bit and 15¢ a long bit.
Coins were minted in both Spain and Latin America from the 16th to 19th centuries in silver 1 ⁄ 2, 1, 2, 4 and 8 reales nacionales and in gold 1 ⁄ 2, 1, 2, 4 and 8 escudos. The silver 8-real coin was known as the Spanish dollar (as the coin was minted to the specifications of the thaler of the Holy Roman Empire and Habsburg monarchy), peso ...
Most coins are worth their face value, but others are different story. Coin collectors seek rare currencies often valued at a small fortune or greater. Read More: 20 Rare State Quarters Worth...
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".
This coin was known to English colonists in North America as a piece of eight, then later on as a Spanish dollar, Spanish milled dollar, and finally as a Mexican dollar. In French, it was called a piastre and in Portuguese, a pataca or patacão. The Spanish names at various times and in various places were real de a ocho, patacón, duro, or fuerte.
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 ...