4 Reales - Ferdinand VI Proclamation

Proclamation coins like this one were struck not for circulation but for ceremonial scattering — the derrama — during the public acclamation of a new monarch. When Ferdinand VI was proclaimed king in Guatemala City in 1747, coins were thrown from balconies into crowds as a ritual demonstration of royal generosity. Most survivors show the handling damage of that event rather than wear from commerce.

Ferdinand had ascended following the death of Philip V in 1746. Guatemala's Casa de Moneda was among the faster colonial mints to produce proclamation issues for this succession.