1/2 Real - Fernando VII Royalist Coinage

When insurgent forces under Hidalgo and later Morelos disrupted New Spain's established mint network, royalist-controlled municipalities were left scrambling to produce emergency coinage. Guadalajara's cabildo struck these fractional pieces under authorization from the royalist administration, using whatever silver could be sourced locally — which explains the notoriously inconsistent fineness found across surviving specimens despite the nominal .903 standard.

The KM#74.2 designation distinguishes this from closely related Guadalajara emergency types by die characteristics. Dating attribution across the 1812–1815 window is often determined by provenance rather than legible date, as many strikes are weakly impressed from hastily prepared dies.