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2 Reales - Carlos I
| Issuer | Casa de Moneda de México |
|---|---|
| Year | 1542-1555 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Central quartered shield displaying the castles of Castile and the lions of León in alternating quarters, surmounted by a royal crown, all within a beaded inner circle. The crowned arms are rendered in the early colonial hammered style characteristic of the Mexico City mint. The encircling legend reads CAROLVS ET IOHANA REGS, identifying the joint sovereigns Carlos I and Queen Juana. The flan is irregular in shape, as is typical of cob-style hammered coinage of this period. Assayer and mint marks appear in the field adjacent to the shield. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | CAROLVS:ET:IOHANA:REGS M O (Translation: Kings Carlos and Juana) |
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| Additional information |
These cob-style pieces — macuquinas — were struck at the Mexico City mint, the first operating mint in the Americas, which Carlos I authorized in 1535. Production was crude by design: silver was cast into bars, cut to approximate weight, and hammer-struck with no concern for centering or shape. The crown assayed the silver content rigorously, but the form was irrelevant.
Counterfeiting and short-weight fraud were persistent problems in this period. A royal decree of 1550 mandated that assayers mark each piece with their personal initial, making individual accountability traceable — the assayer's mark on surviving examples from this window is often the only reliable dating tool available.