2 Maravedis - Charles and Joanna

Charles and Joanna's 2 Maravedis from Santo Domingo holds a strong claim to being among the earliest European-style coinage struck in the Western Hemisphere. The Casa de Contratación authorized a mint at Santo Domingo in the 1540s partly to address the chronic shortage of small-denomination currency crippling everyday commerce in Hispaniola — gold was abundant in theory, but useless for buying bread. Billon was the practical choice: cheap, familiar to Spanish colonists, and workable in a mint operating far from Castilian oversight.

Joanna had been legally incapacitated since 1509, confined at Tordesillas under her son Charles's authority. Her name appears on colonial coinage throughout his reign regardless.