These are among the earliest coins struck in the Western Hemisphere, produced at the Mexico City mint which received its royal charter in 1535 — the first mint established in the Americas. Carlos I is better known to history as Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and the coins bearing his name were being struck in New Spain before most of Europe had any reliable supply of milled coinage. The cob-style planchets were cut by hand from cast silver bars, which is why no two pieces from this series are dimensionally identical.
These are among the earliest coins struck in the Western Hemisphere, produced at the Mexico City mint which received its royal charter in 1535 — the first mint established in the Americas. Carlos I is better known to history as Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and the coins bearing his name were being struck in New Spain before most of Europe had any reliable supply of milled coinage. The cob-style planchets were cut by hand from cast silver bars, which is why no two pieces from this series are dimensionally identical.