2 Escudos - Charles IV

Charles IV inherited the Spanish throne in 1788 and almost immediately faced the financial strain of wars with Revolutionary and then Napoleonic France. The Lima mint, one of the most productive gold-striking facilities in the colonial Americas, kept supplying the Crown with escudos throughout this period even as Spain's political situation deteriorated badly. The 1808 endpoint of this type is not incidental — Napoleon's forced abdication of Charles IV and his son Ferdinand that year effectively ended the Bourbon administration of the colonies and set Spanish America on its long road toward independence.

The Lima coinage of this reign is generally well-regarded for consistency, though assayer initial changes across the run give collectors a workable set of minor varieties to pursue.