1757 8 Reales Pillar Type Peru Lima Mint - Listed In Red Book Of US Coins

I acquired this coin because it was an important part of U.S. history. The Spanish milled dollar or 8 Reales coin was effectively the reserve currency of the world at the time and that applied to all other denominations of Spanish coinage. Until 1857, Spanish gold and silver coins were legal tender in the U.S. This 8 Reales coin is the Silver counterpart to the US Dollar and also the predecessor to the 8 Reales coin I acquired in this related thread: http://goccf.com/t/410029

Smaller silver Spanish coinage circulated widely in the colonies and the United States alongside other foreign coins as locally produced coinage was scarce. The 8 Reales coins were chopped into 2, 4 or 8 "bits" to make change.



Many of these intact silver majors also sat in bank vaults like gold coinage and served as reserves backing paper currency and notes issued, which were more practical to carry around and exchange. This example looks like it sat in a bank vault for a long time based on the high grade. Below is an image of posted exchange rates in North America for foreign coinage published by Michener.



NGC says that the mintage for this year is unknown, but the Pillar type had a long run from 1732 to 1772 and littered the world with Spanish silver. This was the de facto currency of global trade. This belies the huge silver discoveries in the New World and why these distant colonies were so valuable to European sovereigns. This particular coin was minted during the reign of Fernando VI (pictured below), the predecessor King of Carlos III.



These were struck in the middle of the North American colonial period and prior to when the establishment of the U.S. Mint could have been imagined. This coin would have been used as money all over the world, but primarily in the colonial trade in the New World.

Thoughts? Thanks!