2 Reales - Philip V Madrid, 2nd type, DEI · GRATIA

Philip V had already been on the Spanish throne for fifteen years by 1716, but his grip on it had cost Europe twelve years of war. The War of the Spanish Succession formally ended with the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, stripping Spain of its Italian territories and the Spanish Netherlands — and it was largely that settlement which prompted a wholesale reorganization of the Castilian minting system. The Madrid mint's 2nd type coinage reflects the administrative consolidation that followed, as the Bourbon administration methodically replaced Habsburg minting conventions with French-influenced fiscal controls.

The DEI · GRATIA legend placement distinguishes this type from the 1st type issues and marks a specific die revision ordered through the Casa de la Moneda.