Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Obverse of 16th Century Pillars and Waves Two-Reales Showing "O" Assayer Mark to the Right of the Shield. |
I've been talking about 16th century reales, several of which were found on the Treasure Coast in the past few years. They are earlier than the reales typically found on the 1715 Fleet sites. For one thing, they tend to be more flat and round than those found on the 1715 Fleet. They are more like coins than cobs.
Without going back and looking through previous posts, I can think of at least four people who have found 16th century coins on the Treasure Coast in the last two years. And I posted pictures of a few of those. Terry S. had West Bay Trading Company clean and conserve a very nice example. Here is the link. Treasure Beaches Report: Pt. 2. (2020 and Beyond). : 5/7/20 Report - Vero Old Treasure Coast Carlos and Joanna Two-Reale Find and 1715 Fleet Eight-Reale Certified. (tbr2020.blogspot.com) You will notice that it has no date. The 16th century reales I'm talking about today do not show a date, but you can often figure out a date range from other markings.
Lets get into a little history.
Following the deaths of Isabella (1504) and Ferdinand (1516), their daughter Joanna inherited the Spanish kingdoms. However, she was kept prisoner at Tordesillas due to an alleged mental disorder. As Joanna's son, Charles I (the future Holy Roman Emperor Charles V), did not want to be merely a regent, he proclaimed himself king of Castile and Aragon jointly with his mother. Subsequently, Castilian and Aragonese Cortes alleged oath to him as co-monarch with his mother. Upon her death, he became sole King of Castile and Aragon, and the thrones were left permanently united to Phillip II of Spain and successors. Traditional numbering of monarchs follows the Castillian crown, i.e., after King Ferdinand (II of Aragon and V of Castile jure uxoris as husband of Queen of Castille Isabella I), the next Ferdinand was numbered VI. Likewise, Alfonso II takes his number following that of Alfonso XI of Castille rather than that of Alfonso of Aragon, the prior Spanish monarchs with that name.
The first authorized design for first New World reales is the pillars or pillars and waves design. That is type of coin I posted pictures of yesterday.
Here are examples of those early pillars and waves reales made by three mints.
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| 16th Century Pillars and Waves Reales Made by Three New World Mints. |
Since they aren't dated, you have to look for other indicators, such as the assayer. Here are the assayers for the Mexico mint between 1536 - 1572, when they produced the Pillars and Waves reales.
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Notice that there are assayers using the assayer marks of R and G for both early and late series reales of the Pillars and Waves period.
At the top of this post is a photo of the assayer mark on the uncleaned Pillars and Waves two-reale that I showed yesterday. You can see the "O" assayer mark to the right of the shield. That would mean that particular coin would have been minted between 1564 and 1572. The reales made under the supervision of Bernardo de Onate sometimes switched the position of the mint and assayer marks, so sometimes you would find the "O" on the left anad sometimes on the right, and the mint mark, of course would be on the opposite side.
There are other things that will give you and idea of the date or time period. For example, there are variations in how the Plus Ultra motto is displayed,
Good hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net