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2 Reales Countermark on Spain - Madrid 2 Reales KM# 412.1
| Issuer | Cuba |
|---|---|
| Year | 1841 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | 1.1 mm |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Crowned royal coat of arms of Castile and León displayed at center, flanked on either side by the denomination numeral 2 and the mark R (for Reales), with the Madrid mintmark M to the left and the assayers' initials DV to the right. The circumferential legend HISPANIARUM REX encircles the shield in Latin script. The arms are rendered in the standard Bourbon heraldic style of the period, with the crowned shield quartered with the castles of Castile and the lions of León, typical of Madrid mint production under Carlos III. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
In 1841, Cuba's colonial administration authorized countermarking Spanish 2 Reales coins already in circulation as a measure to validate coinage and combat the chronic shortage of legitimate currency plaguing the island. The host coins — Madrid-minted pieces struck under Ferdinand VII — were punched with a crowned "Y-II" mark to authenticate them for continued local use. This was a pragmatic bureaucratic solution to a supply problem Spain itself had created by failing to establish a functioning local mint in Havana at the scale the colony required.
The countermark placement and sharpness vary considerably across surviving examples, a direct consequence of the informal, high-volume nature of the operation.