Philip V spent much of his reign attempting to rationalize Spain's chaotic copper coinage, which had been debased, restruck, and revalued so many times since the 1640s that public confidence in small denominations had essentially collapsed. The 1739 Madrid patterns were part of that ongoing reform effort — test strikes produced to evaluate new designs or production standards before committing to a full issue. Most never circulated.
The Aureo reference places this among a small documented group. Pattern survivorship from this mint and period is genuinely thin.
Philip V spent much of his reign attempting to rationalize Spain's chaotic copper coinage, which had been debased, restruck, and revalued so many times since the 1640s that public confidence in small denominations had essentially collapsed. The 1739 Madrid patterns were part of that ongoing reform effort — test strikes produced to evaluate new designs or production standards before committing to a full issue. Most never circulated.
The Aureo reference places this among a small documented group. Pattern survivorship from this mint and period is genuinely thin.