The 500 peseta coin was introduced in 1987 largely because chronic inflation had eroded the 100 peseta piece's purchasing power to near-uselessness for everyday transactions, and the Spanish treasury needed a higher-denomination circulating coin that could actually do the work a large coin is supposed to do. The aluminium bronze alloy was chosen partly for its resistance to vending machine fraud — counterfeiting of the earlier 100 peseta coins had become a genuine administrative headache by the mid-1980s.
Spain's entry into the European Community in 1986 made this series short-lived by design. Monetary planning for what would become the euro was already underway before the last of these pieces left the Madrid mint.
The 500 peseta coin was introduced in 1987 largely because chronic inflation had eroded the 100 peseta piece's purchasing power to near-uselessness for everyday transactions, and the Spanish treasury needed a higher-denomination circulating coin that could actually do the work a large coin is supposed to do. The aluminium bronze alloy was chosen partly for its resistance to vending machine fraud — counterfeiting of the earlier 100 peseta coins had become a genuine administrative headache by the mid-1980s.
Spain's entry into the European Community in 1986 made this series short-lived by design. Monetary planning for what would become the euro was already underway before the last of these pieces left the Madrid mint.