Spanish Coins

Isabel II on Obverse of 1847 Spanish 4 Maravedis

Countries

Alfonso XIII on Obverse of 1894 Spanish 5 Pesetas

General Franco on Obverse of Spanish Silver 100 Pesetas 1966

Juan Carlos & Felipe on Reverse of Spanish 2000 Pesetas 1990

Reverse of 1847 Spanish 4 Maravedis

A Brief History
Hoards of ancient Greek coins have been found on the Iberian Peninsula, so the history of coins and coinage in Spain goes back more than two millennia. During Roman times many mints were active here, and with its Mediterranean coast, Spain has played an active part in the development of Europe and the western world. Spain has been occupied wholly or partially be Phoenicians, Carthaginian, Greeks, Celts, Romans, Vandals, Visigoths, Moors and French. In 1492 Ferdinand and Isabella removed the last of the Moors. During the sixteenth century, Spain was the most powerful state in Europe, and therefore the world. It was responsible for opening up much of the New World. Spain's political power weakened somewhat during the 16th and 17th centuries as other European powers, including England, rose to challenge her global pre-eminance. However, throughout the 17th and much of the 18th century, Spain was still a great world power, thanks to the huge wealth in Silver present in her New World colonies. Spain minted what could be described as the first truly global currency in the form of the 8 Reale 'Piece of Eight' or Spanish Dollar, famous for its associations with piracy during that period. The Spanish Dollar became the basis of many world currencies, including the Mexican Peso, the Japanese Yen, the Chinese Yuan and the US Dollar. In Spain itself, decimalisation saw the end of the Spanish Dollar, with the introduction of a decimalised currency by the end of the 1860s called the Pesata, which replaced old predecimal currency at 4 Reales to the Pesata, which in turn was subdivided into 100 Centavos to the Pesata.

Despite its abundance of precious metal wealth, Spain declined considerably throughout the 18th century due to inflation, resistance to political reform and the subsequent failure to industrialise during the Age of Enlightenment, all of which left Spain but a shadow of its former self as other Western European powers surpassed her in naval, economic and military terms. Spain was ruled by France from 1808 to 1814, and the upheaval caused by the Napoleonic Wars and its aftermath led to the loss of most of her overseas Empire by the end of the 1820s. Spain became a republic in 1873, which lasted until the following year, and again in 1931. During the twentieth century the Spanish Republic was wracked by civil war. The forces of General Franco emerged victorious from this, leading to a right wing dictatorship for the next 36 years, whereupon the Monarchy and democratic government were restored in 1975. Spain joined the EU in 1986 and joined the Eurozone in 2002 as a founder member, replacing the Pesata with the Euro.

Coins
We occasionally have small stocks of various Spanish coins and coin sets, which we will list on this page.
In addition we have pages for:

• Silver One Real
• 1870 Silver 5 Pesetas of Provisional Government, 1868 - 1871
• Silver 5 Pesetas of Amadeo I
• Silver 5 Pesetas of Alfonso XII
• Silver 5 Pesetas of Alfonso XIII
• 1966 Silver 100 Pesetas - Franco
• 1989 Spain 5 Ecus
• 1992 Barcelona Olympics Silver Proof 2000 Pesetas - Juan Carlos
• Twelve Euro ($12) Silver Commemorative Coins
• The Official ECU Collection

NB, Spanish coins minted in former colonies will be listed on that country's pages.

Spanish Coin Sets
We have listings of many world coin sets on the appropriate pages, but will repeat the listings here.

Date	No of Coins	Grade	Availability	Price £	Price $
1975	3	Unc.	Yes	£3.95	$6
1977	3	Unc.	Yes	£3.95	$6
1999	8	Unc.	Sold Out	£11.95	$19
2000	8	Unc.	Sold Out	£12.50	$20
2000/2001	8	Unc.	Yes	£12.50	$20

Notes on Table
No. of Coins = Number of coins in set.
Avail = Availability

Postage & Packing:
UK: At buyer's Risk £3.50 or
Fully Insured £9 (Usually by Royal Mail Special Delivery)
USA: Airmail at buyer's risk $10 or
Fully Insured $20
For further details, please see our Postage & Packing page.

Order Form - UK
Order Form - USA
Order Form - EU
Order Form - Rest of World

Spanish Gold Coins
For Spanish coins in gold, please look at the Spanish Coins page of our Tax Free Gold website.

Coins Wanted
We make an active market in almost all world coins, including Spanish coins. If you have any of these coins to sell, please contact us, or post them to us for appraisal and offer.