Spanish silver coins are referred to as “pieces of eight” and were measured in reales. Their denominations are 8 reales, 4 reales, 2 reales, 1 real, ½ real and ¼ real. An 8 reales silver coin was roughly equivalent to one month’s pay for a sailor in the 1600’s.
Denominations of the 1600's coins were based on the “Onza” or avoirdupois ounce equaling 28 grams. Each denomination was to equal one-half of the next higher denomination. Due to the crude hand-struck minting process, no two coins look alike.
Gold coins were measured in escudos and were referred to as “doubloons”. The term dubloon originally came from the word “double” for a two escudo coin. Two pieces of eight (silver) equaled a one-escudo coin or a sixteen-to-one ration between gold and silver bullion. Gold coin denominations are 8 escudo, 4 escudo, 2 escudo and 1 escudo.
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