Currency of Spanish America

This article provides an outline of the currency of Spanish America (las Indias, the Indies) from Spanish colonization in the 15th century until Spanish American independencies in the 19th. This great realm was divided into the Viceroyalty of New Spain (capital: Mexico City), which came to include all Spanish territory north of Panama, the West Indies, Venezuela, and the Philippines, and the Viceroyalty of Peru (capital: Lima), which included Panama and all Spanish territory in South America except Venezuela. The monetary system of Spanish America, originally identical to that of Spain, soon diverged and took on a distinctive character of its own, which it passed on to the independent nations that followed after.

Real (R) = 34 Maravedíes (mrs)

After the Spanish kingdoms were united under Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile and soon after the conquest of Granada, the Spanish monetary system was reformed.This caused some damage to the kingdom. The maravedí had served as the Spanish money of account since the 11th century, but on June 2, 1497 the Ordinance of Medina del Campo (site of the great international fairs) made the real the unit of account, with the maravedí defined as a fraction of it (the 34th part). The standard silver coin became the real of 3·434 g, 0·9306 fine (3·195 g silver), rated 34 maravedíes. There was also a half, a 3, and a 6-real coin. This reform adopted the excelente (called ducado from 1504) for gold, a copy of the Venetian ducat, 3·521 g, 23¾ carats fine (3484·442 mg gold), rated 375 maravedíes. A third standard coin was the blanca, a small coin of 1·198 g, worth half a maravedí. The blanca was a copper coin containing a trace of silver, a type of coin known as billon, vellón in Spanish. This was the monetary system that the Spaniards brought to the New World.

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