Kim E. writes: I live in Florida and found a coin and am not sure if it’s authentic or not. On one side of the coin around the boarder it reads: Hispanarium Rex 1723. In the center there is a Spanish coat of arms with two lions kitty-corner to each other and in the other kitty-corners are two castles.
On the flip side there is a Crown over another coat of arms and around the boarder are the words and letters: PHIIIPPUS VDG. The words and letters on both sides are seperated by tiny fleurs. To the left of the coat of arms is an R over a tiny crown over the letter M and to the right it looks like a roman numeral II over the letter A. It is a bronzey gold color and about the size of a US silver dollar. The crown looks strangely like the huge crown I have seen capping a church in Puerto Vallerta. However, having been to that city several times, I do not recall ever getting a coin that looked like this one.
The coin though worn, is in good condition and does not look like any kind of a “copy” type of recent minting at all. Any thoughts on this? Just looking for answers. Thank you! Kim
You have a 1723 Spain, silver 2 Reales. The coin was struck at the Madrid Mint (crowned shield) and the Assayer initial is “A”. The coin shows the crowned shield of Spain. R= the denomination Real. Below is the crowned “M”, the mint mark of the Madrid Mint. To the right of the shield is the denomination in Roman numerals, ‘II”, and beneath is the Assayer’s initial. Around is the legend PHILIPPUS V D.G. (Philip V by the Grace of G-d).
The legend continues on the reverse, HISPANIARUM REX (King of Spain). The date is at top over a cross within a treasure. In the quadrants of the cross are alternating Castles and Lions representing the major provinces of Castile and Leon.
