Macuquina

So far, three macuquina coins (hand-made hammered coins) have been found in Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes wreck (NSMS-5164, NSMS-5165 y NSMS-5166), which are the exception to the mechanical manufacturing system used in the rest of the cargo.Salto de línea These are pieces hand-made by hammering irregular, scissor-cut blanks, of variable thicknesses, modules and weight. Their production gradually ceased from the 1730s, when the Ordinances of 1728 ruled that mints should be mechanised and imposed new coin designs, which until then had consisted of the cross of Jerusalem, crowned and edged with castles and lions on the obverse, and the columns of Hercules crowned on sea waves, with the motto “Plus Ultra” on the reverse, along with the value, date and mint mark. The slow introduction of machinery in the American colonies extended their issue until 1773, and so hammered coins are proof of a residual circulation, in which the intrinsic value of the silver is never devalued. Salto de línea