Reales

      Widely used in pirate stories in which a treasure of Doubloons and Pieces of Eight has been discovered, these coins have been mixed with the sounds of joy and 'Arrrr matie' for centuries.  The Doubloon (from Spanish doblón, meaning "double") was a two-escudo or 32-real gold coin; weighing 6.867 grams (0.218 troy ounces) in 1537, and 6.766 grams from 1728, of .92 fine gold (22-carat gold), and the Reales (Silver).  Doubloons were minted in Spain, Mexico, Peru, and Nueva Granada.  The term was first used to describe the golden excelente either because of its value of two ducats or because of the double portrait of Ferdinand and Isabella.  The Reales, on the other hand, has, at its larges denomination, the value of 8.  These 8 Reales (Pieces of Eight) were also minted in fractions valued at 4 Reales, 2 Reales, and 1 Reales.  The 8 became our Silver Dollar, the 4 our half-dollar, 2 quarter-dollar, and 1 became the dime.  The term bits comes from the parts.  Hence, when you read or hear the term 'two bits', as in 'Two bit, four bit, eight bits a dollar.' it is alluding to the quarter, half-dollar, and dollar which was modeled of the 2, 4, & 8 Reales.  Eventually the dollar became 100 pennies and the 1 Reales (dime) went from an original value of 12.5 parts of a Reales to 10 parts of a dollar so it would conform with the decimal divisions.  Aside from the U.S. dollar, several other currencies, such as the Canadian dollar, the British pound, the Japanese yen, the Chinese yuan, the Philippine peso, and several currencies in the rest of the world, were initially based on the Spanish dollar and other 8-real coins.
 
 
 

20/24 mm, 5.83 grms. 2 Reales 170?

28 mm, 6.54 grms. 2 Reales AR - Carlos IV, 1797

17mm, 1.64 grms. A Reales (1 Reales) Carlos IV, 1805

28 mm, 6.44 grms. 2 Reales, Mexico Republic 1846