This is the fourth assayer P coin I acquired in a recent sale. This one has the initials reversed to the left and right of the shield (P-M) and has dots above and below the initials.
Pedro de Espina was the 2nd of 4 assayers in the early series of coins from the first Mint in Mexico City. He followed the first assayer Francisco del Rincon.
The first coins struck in the New World were made at the initial Mexico City Mint which was located in the home of Spanish conquistador of Mexico Hernan Cortes. This was ~46 years after Columbus landed in the New World in 1492. Cortes conquered Mexico in 1519 by defeating Aztec Emperor Moctezuma Xocoyotzin. This was the early precursor of U.S. coinage.
As always, let me know your thoughts on the coin.
The 2nd 2 Reales Coin Struck in the New World
MEXICO, Colonial. Juana y Carlos. Queen & King of Spain, 1506-1516. AR 2 Reales (6.68g). Early series. Mexico City mint; Pedro de Espina, assayer. Struck 1538-1541. Crowned coat-of-arms / Crowned Pillars of Hercules; PLVS in rhomboid with 6 anulets. Calico-91. PCGS XF40. Charles & Johanna 2 Reales ND. A seldom-seen problem free piece that escaped the golden fleece shipwreck. From the JBR Collection.
IN NECESSARIIS UNITAS - IN DUBIIS LIBERTAS - IN OMNIBUS CARITAS
THE MAN IN THE ARENA, Theodore Roosevelt at the Sorbonne Paris on April 23, 1910: "
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
My coin website:
https://fairfaxcoins.com
Posted 08/22/2025 11:33 pm
