Ferdinand and Isabella removed the last Moorish stronghold from Spain in 1492. Joseph Napoleon, the brother of Napoleon I, was made King of Spain from June 6, 1808 until December 11, 1813 when the Borbón dynasty was restored. Despite attempts to establish a Republic in 1873 and again in 1931, the country remains the Kingdom of Spain. Ceuta and Melilla are two Spanish possessions on the coast of Africa.
Silver coins minted in Sicily, Italy and France were circulating in Spain as early as the fifth century BC and cons were minted in Spain by 350 BC. The Visigoths issued coins until the Arab invasion of Spain in 711-712. During the Islamic period, copper fals, silver dirhems and gold dinars were minted in Spain.
Spain had several different monetary systems that coexisted in different parts of Spain before the unification of the Spanish monetary system using the Peseta. All were units of account that had specie money that tried to reflect the monetary divisions inherent in each system. In 1391, Spain had to endure the simultaneous circulation of 132 types of coins. This led to monetary reforms in 1391, 1471, 1497, 1537, 1542, 1686, 1772, 1847, 1859, and of course 1999. Anyone who longs for the days when money was made out of gold, silver and copper, rather than paper, never lived during those days of monetary chaos. Probably, not even moneychangers could keep track of the different systems.
After Spain was united in 1492, the real, equal to 34 maravedis, was the principal unit of account. Charles V adopted the Ducado/Ducat (XESD) in 1537 with 1 Gold Ducado equal to .833 Pesos or 375 Maravedis. The Escudo (XESE) was introduced with the monetary reform of October 14, 1686 when the Real de Vellon was also introduced with one Piece of Eight (Piastre/Escudo) equal to 20 Reales de Vellon and 10 Reales de Vellon in 1737. The Escudo was divisible into 2 Pesos, 16 Reales or 544 Maravedis. The Escudo and its divisions were the principle coins used in Spain and especially in Spanish America.
The Decree of Aranjuez on May 29, 1772 tried to unify the monetary systems in Spain. The principle system was based upon the Piastre/Peso (XESP), equal to 10 Reales de Plata (silver), 20 Reales de Vellon (Billon of silver and copper), 340 Maravedis de Plata, and 680 Maravedis de Vellon. In Alicante, Catalonia, Mallorca and Valencia, a system based upon the Pound (XESL) was used with 1 Libra equal to 10 Reales, 20 Sueldos (Sous/Shillings), and 240 Dineros (Deniers/Pence). There were further subdivisions into 480 Mallas in Catalonia and 320 Dineros in Aragon. In Malaga, a Real (XESR) equal to 8.5 Quartos, 17 Ochavos, 34 Maravedis, 64 Blancos, 136 Cornados or 340 Dineros was used. In Navarre, the Ducado (XESD) was used with 1 Ducado equal to 49 Tarjas, 196 Ochavos, 392 Maravedis or 784 Cornados. Finally, the Spanish Doubloon (XESD) was used as a trade coin, so called because it was equal to two Escudos. In general 1 Quadruple (equal to a French Livre) was divisible into 4 Doubloons (Pistoles), 8 Escudos, 16 Reales, 80 Pesetas or 320 Reales. Finally, French Ecus (FRT) of 3 Livres Tournois were used in the northern part of Spain until 1821 when they were demonetized.
The Decree of Aranjuez hardly succeeded in bringing clarity to the Spanish Monetary system, so on May 31, 1847, Isabella II initiated her monetary reform, introducing the silver Real as the basis for the new system, with 1 gold Doubloon divisible into 5 silver Duros, 10 silver Escudos, 25 Pesetas, 100 Reales or 1000 Decimos de Real. Until 1847, the Spanish currency was quoted in terms of the Peso de la Plata Antigua, which was equal to 64/85 Peso Duros.
The Spanish Law of June 26, 1864 made the Escudo the monetary unit of all Spanish colonies with 1 Gold Doubloon equal to 10 Escudos equal to 100 Silver Reales. The Spanish monetary system was linked to the French monetary system with the introduction of the Peseta, made of equal weight to the Franc Germinal and with 1 Peso Duro = 5 Pesetas = 20 Reales. Spain joined the Latin Monetary Union on October 19, 1868 and simultaneously introduced the peseta, divisible into 100 Centimos, though the silver Spanish Peseta was slightly heavier than the French Franc. A number of private banks issued banknotes in Escudos or Reales de Vellon until l874 when the Banco de Espana obtained a monopoly on note issue and began issuing banknotes in Pesetas. Although the Latin Monetary Union began moving toward a gold standard in 1878, Spain stopped issuing gold coins in 1883.
During the Spanish Civil War, the Nationalist Peseta (ESN) was issued by the Banco de Espana in Burgos beginning on November 13, 1936 and existed independently of the Republican Peseta issued from Madrid. After the defeat of the Republican forces on April 1, 1939, the Banco de Espana in Madrid began issuing Pesetas for all of Spain. Republican Peseta banknotes were repudiated on March 13, 1942. Spain also had two special Account Pesetas (ESA and ESB).
Spain adopted the Euro as its currency on January 1, 1999 with 1 Euro equal to 166.386 Spanish Pesetas. Euro banknotes and coins, issued by the European Central Bank began circulating on January 1, 2002, and the Spanish Peseta ceased to be legal tender on February 28, 2002. The Euro is divisible into 100 Cents. |
