Reale? Medal? What Is It | Proclamation Coin

Photos of the coin in question.

It's a "proclamation coin". Proclamation coins are a peculiarly Spanish phenomenon, and fall somewhere in between "coins", "tokens" and "medals".

They are not really coins because they were not officially issued by the government; you won't find them listed in coin catalogues. They aren't really tokens because they weren't specifically designed for use as money. And they're not really medals becuase in spite of the previous two statements, they were often struck at official mints on planchets that were the same size and weight as actual coins, and they circulated as such once they were issued.

In the days before mass-media, important events were "proclaimed" in a public place - imagine the old-fashioned "town crier". For very important events, such as the coronation of a new king or declaration of independence, these proclamations were large formal occasions in the city square. It is at these large gatherings that our "proclamation pieces" found their use.

They were commissioned by local landowners, city officials or anyone else who was wealthy enough to sponsor their production. Whoever it was usually had their names placed on the pieces too, to make sure everyone knew who to thank for their generosity (and maybe so that word of their enthusiastic support for whatever was being proclaimed would spread to the central government). The pieces would then be given out to those present at the proclamation, perhaps in a formal and civilized way or perhaps in the old-fashioned Roman way of distributing largesse by tossing handfuls of them out into the crowd.

Once people got their coin-like medal, they were then of course free to spend it, keep it or do whatever they liked with it. Since they were usually identical to coins in every way that mattered except for their design, many were spent. They would circulate side-by-side with official coins, as de-facto circulating commemoratives.

In this case, the event being proclaimed was Ferdinand VII becoming king in 1808. Given its size, it may have seen circulation as a 2 reales.

I update this interesting post. with Sap.

In Spanish America, municipality administration was carried out by the "CABILDO"(or CONCEJO); usually, a city as Oaxaca had 8 members in its city council, the first of these members was appointed as REGIDOR AND ALFEREZ REAL (equivalent to mayor).

Felipe Ordoñez Díaz was appointed "Regidor" and Alferez Real (ALFEREZ R.) of Oaxaca on may 8, 1789.

I dont know when he finished as "Regidor", but obviously he was still in 1808.

v.