PIECES OF EIGHT
Image courtesy Stack's Rare Coins
"Yo, ho, ho, and a bottle of rum!" To hear the term "Pieces of Eight" brings to mind pirate treasure and the Spanish Main. This coin is known as the Spanish Pillar Dollar, or officially as 8 Reales (ree-AL-ees). The design on the reverse represents the Pillars of Hercules, the gateway to the Mediterranean, with the motto Plus Ultra ("There is more beyond") referring to the New World. These coins were often cut into eight parts, each worth 1 Real (ree-AL), and these 8 pieces were called bits. "Shave and a haircut, two bits." This series of coins was minted in the New World for almost 300 years. The U.S. Silver Dollar was patterned on this coin. This particular piece was minted in Mexico City in 1768 and was issued in the name of the Spanish emperor Charles the Third. Spanish Pillar Dollars were legal tender in the U.S. until 1857!
Until machines took over the minting process, coins were made by hand. The beautiful roundness of "milled" coins was achieved through the use of a retaining ring or collar which contained the flow of metal as the coin was being struck. Ancient coinmakers did not have these collars so their coins were normally irregular in shape.
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