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4 Reales - Isabel II
| Issuer | Spain |
|---|---|
| Year | 1852-1855 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 5.2 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse description | Central design features the quartered coat of arms of Spain, displaying the castles of Castile and the lions of León in the principal quarters, with the fleur-de-lis of the Bourbon dynasty in the inescutcheon. The shield is surmounted by a large royal crown. The denomination '4 Rs.' is incused to the left of the shield within the field. The circular legend encircles the design along the periphery, flanked by small star ornaments at the base, all within a toothed border. |
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| Mintage | 1852 - KM#600.1, Cal#272 - 1852 - KM#600.2, Cal#299 - 1852 - KM#600.3, Cal#323 - 1853 - KM#600.1, Cal#273 - 1853 - KM#600.2, Cal#300 - 1853 - KM#600.3, Cal#324 - 1854 - KM#600.1, Cal#274 - 1854 - KM#600.2, Cal#301 - 1854 - KM#600.3, Cal#325 - 1855 - KM#600.1, Cal#275 - 1855 - KM#600.2, Cal#302 - 1855 - KM#600.3, Cal#326 - |
| Additional information |
The 4 Reales denomination had an awkward existence during Isabel II's reign — too large for everyday small commerce, too small for serious mercantile transactions, it occupied an uncomfortable middle ground as Spain lurched toward decimal currency. The shift finally came in 1868 with the introduction of the peseta system, which rendered the entire reales coinage obsolete almost overnight.
Cal#272 corresponds to the Madrid mint issues of this short window, produced as the government debated monetary reform under successive unstable cabinets. The .900 fineness itself was a concession to modernization pressure from French monetary policy following the Latin Monetary Union discussions of the period.