The reales and escudos denomination system
Spanish colonial money ran on two metals: silver reales and gold escudos. Learn the whole ladder here, what each coin was called, and what it was worth against the others.
Reales: a half to eight
Silver was the everyday money of the Spanish Americas. The unit was the real, and the coins ran in a simple doubling ladder. The largest, the 8 reales, was the peso that the world came to know as the Spanish dollar. It is the coin sailors called a piece of eight.
| Denomination | Also called | What it was worth | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/2 real | medio | one sixteenth of a peso | The smallest common silver piece; everyday small change. |
| 1 real | one bit | one eighth of a peso | A single 'bit'. The peso was split into eight of these. |
| 2 reales | two bits | one quarter of a peso | The 'two bits' that survived as US slang for 25 cents. |
| 4 reales | medio peso | half a peso | Half of a piece of eight; less often seen than the 8. |
| 8 reales | piece of eight, peso, Spanish dollar | one peso, one 'dollar' | About 38 mm and 25.56 g of fine silver. The model for the US dollar. |
Escudos: one to eight
Gold coins were the escudos, worth far more than silver and used for large sums. One escudo traded for about 16 reales, so a piece of gold moved real money. The word doubloon, from doblon or 'double', strictly means the 2 escudos coin, though most people today use it for the big 8 escudos.
| Denomination | Also called | What it was worth | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 escudo | - | about 16 reales, roughly 2 dollars | The base gold unit of the system. |
| 2 escudos | doubloon | about 32 reales, roughly 4 dollars | Strictly speaking, THIS is the doubloon (doblon, meaning 'double'). |
| 4 escudos | - | about 64 reales, roughly 8 dollars | A middle gold denomination; scarcer than the 2 or 8. |
| 8 escudos | double doubloon, onza | about 128 reales, roughly 16 dollars | The large gold coin most people loosely call a 'doubloon' today. |
Pieces, bits, and two bits
- A peso was the 8 reales silver coin, the piece of eight.
- Each eighth of it was a bit, so one real was one bit.
- Two bits was a quarter of the dollar. The phrase still means 25 cents.
- The US dollar of 1792 was set to match this silver coin, which stayed legal tender in the United States until 1857.
Want to put a name to a specific coin? Move on to how to identify a Spanish colonial coin, which reads the mint mark, assayer, denomination, and date. For prices, see the honest value ranges.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
How many reales were in a piece of eight?
Eight. The piece of eight was the 8 reales silver coin, one peso. It divided into eight one-real 'bits', which is why a quarter of it was 'two bits'.
How much was a doubloon worth in reales?
A doubloon, strictly the 2 escudos gold coin, was worth about 32 reales, or roughly four silver dollars. The larger 8 escudos, often loosely called a doubloon, was worth about 128 reales, or roughly sixteen dollars.
What is the difference between a real and an escudo?
A real is the silver unit and an escudo is the gold unit. One escudo was worth about 16 reales. The 8 reales was the big silver coin; the 8 escudos was the big gold coin.
Why is a quarter called two bits?
The Spanish dollar split into eight reales, each called a bit. Two bits made a quarter of the dollar, so 'two bits' came to mean 25 cents in American English.