Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
4 Reales - Carlos IV
| Issuer | Real Casa de la Moneda (Royal Mint of Spain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1788-1808 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Real (1497-1833) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Draped bust of King Carlos IV facing right, rendered in the neoclassical style characteristic of late 18th-century Spanish coinage. The king is depicted with powdered, ribbon-tied hair dressed in the fashion of the period, wearing a lace cravat and truncated armored drapery at the shoulder. The date, here 1792, appears in the lower field beneath the effigy. The Latin legend CAROLUS IIII DEI G. runs along the periphery, reading from the lower left upward and continuing to the right, with the regnal numeral IIII positioned prominently to the upper right of the bust. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Latin |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Carlos IV's 4 Reales occupied an awkward position in Spanish colonial monetary policy — large enough to matter in trade, small enough to be ignored in favor of the dominant 8 Reales in transatlantic commerce. Production ran across multiple mints simultaneously, including Madrid, Seville, and the colonial houses in Mexico City and Lima, creating a sprawling die variety record that catalogers are still untangling.
The reign ended with French occupation in 1808, when Carlos abdicated under pressure from Napoleon at Bayonne — effectively signing away the Spanish crown mid-production run.