Piece of eight

Within the cargo ship of the frigate Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, the vast majority of the coins are pieces of eight (ocho reales), the highest value of the silver monetary system, and a currency which was widely circulated around the world. For that reason, pieces of eight are considered the first universal currency (Céspedes del Castillo, 2005: 1751-1760).Salto de línea Among the cargo there are some coins that are different from the rest in their face value, with silver four-real, two-real, and one-real coins; their place of production (Mexico, Popayán, Santiago de Chile, Guatemala); their chronology (a coin dated to 1736, corresponding to the reign of Philip V); type (macuquinas or hand-hammered coins); mundos y mares or columnario coins; and the presence of alterations, with perforated pieces. The four-real coin, also known as a medio peso or tostón, and the two-real coin, known as a peseta, like the eight-real coins, show the monarch in a laurel wreath on the obverse, and on the reverse side, the crowned shield flanked by the columns of Hercules with the motto PLUS VLTRA, corresponding to the designs established in the Royal Pragmatic of 29 May 1772 by Charles III, and continued by Charles IV, who did not make any changes in design or wording. Salto de línea