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by Mildred Boyd
Where
did they come from, all those chests of glittering coins that once made
piracy for fun and profit a major occupation in the Caribbean?
Where else but Mexico?
The Casa de Moneda de Mexico, established by royal decree in 1535 as the first mint in the New World, has been producing coins of surpassing beauty for nearly 500 years. At first the precious metals so abundant in Mexico were used for traditional Spanish coins of the realm which soon became the common currency all over the Americas. Gold doubloons, weighing 27.468 grams and worth eight escudos, and the Spanish silver dollars worth eight reales were the most common. Lacking small change, colonists often cut the dollars into eight wedge shaped pieces giving birth to the terms "pieces-of-eight" and "two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar."
Thanks to the pirates and storms that sent many a treasure galleon to the bottom, quite a few of those early coins, especially the gold, have survived in mint condition. A doubloon minted in the reign of Phillip V can be bought today for a mere $4,500 US, which, considering that it would have paid the wages of the average seventeenth century workman for several months, is quite reasonable.
Literally thousands of different coins, from the early rough cobs to sophisticated milled varieties, and in various metals have been struck over the years. The 1810 War for Independence, the Iturbide Empire, the Republic, Maximilian’s Empire and the turbulent 1910 revolution each gave rise to new issues as governments and leaders rose and fell with bewildering rapidity.
Modern coins for general circulation are made of copper, brass, nickel or other base metals. Gold and silver are reserved for limited issues of commemorative coins and medals intended for collectors. Among them are beautifully designed and executed series celebrating six of the pre-Columbian cultures that left such a rich heritage to Mexico and its people. Each series consists of a large (5 oz.), four smaller (1 oz.) silver coins and a particularly handsome gold coin available in 1/4, 1/2 and 1 oz. weights.