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Apart from the three coins listed and the fact that 24 quarts = 1 real (all gleaned from Krause-Mischler), I know nothing more about this currency. Was the real equal to the
Spanish real (de plata or de vellon)? What was the exchange rate to
sterling?
Dove1950
14:34, 21 December 2005 (UTC)
Hi, I'm from Gibraltar and I collect some of these coins. I know that 1 quart was equal to a quarter of a Spanish real (hence the name quarto or quart) and ¹/24 of a Gibraltarian real. Halves and doubles were also struck, and were equal to a farthing and a penny respectively. -- Chris Buttigieg 21:19, 2 November 2006 (UTC)
I recently found an old book with a lengthy article about Gibraltar's coinage. I have extracted what I think is most relevant for this topic:
The following are key sentences which I believe will also be useful:
Apparently, it wasn't until 1898 that sterling became the official Gibraltar currency. In the 18th century Gibraltar's currency was based on the Spanish silver dollar and though given the same names, the subdivision of the dollar did not have the same value in Spain and Gibraltar. Most of the article deals with coinage in a 18th and 19th century, however, I wasn't sure what would be most revevant. Until 1898 a curious combination of Spanish currency with Gibraltarian variations had been current in the 18th and 19th centuries. The article encompassed too much information which I could convey here, therefore I think I would be best if you pointed out anything which you think I may find in the book and would be relevant. (It also has the different values given to Spanish coins in Gibraltar in the mid-18th century.)
The article does not mention the name 'Gibraltarian Real' instead refers to it as 'the 1842 quarts' or the '1842 issue'. I was thinking that perhaps it would be better to change the (wiki) article to an article about the history of gibraltar coinage in order to encompass a wider aspect, as opposed to what we have now. -- Chris Buttigieg 10:56, 3 January 2007 (UTC)
Dove1950 13:51, 3 January 2007 (UTC)
The different values given to Spanish coins in Gibraltar in the mid-18th century was the following:
real de vellon = 16 quartos in Gibraltar and 8 ½ quartos in Spain | current dollar = 8 reales de vellon / 128 quartos in Gib and 15 reales de vellon / 127 ½ quartos (but taken as 128) in Spain | hard dollar (peso fuerte) = 10 reales de vellon in Gib and 20 reales de vellon in Spain.
Basically, the artificial exchange rate created problems for the troops. They were paid in sterling copper, ie. 1/4d, 1/2d and 1d at the rate of 4/4 for a $1. the copper coins did not have the value in Gibraltar that they had in Britain. The standard Gib coin was the quarto, so British coins were assigned a value in quartos. The farthing was the same size the merchant's quarto and was therefore assigned the same value even though the quarto was worth one 1/12 of a farthing. The pay sergeants did not like working in fractions so they adopted a rate of four shillings (4/-) for one dollar which made the farthing equal to one quarto. Although the soldiers received their pay in sterling coins they were in fact paid in local currency. If they were due to receive twelve pence (44 quartos) they would be given eleven penny coins, as each penny was deemed to be worth four quartos. Try convincing the ordinary soldier that eleven pennies was actually worth one shilling in Gibraltar! He would argue until he was blue in the face that a shilling always consisted of twelve pence and he would clamour for the missing penny which he had not received. -- Chris Buttigieg 15:21, 3 January 2007 (UTC)
The summary is excellent, and really sums it all up. Thanks for everything ;) -- Chris Buttigieg 12:50, 6 January 2007 (UTC)
I am an English coin collector and dealer. I have a Gibraltar 10 reales 1808 coin or token in vellon, or base metal with a small silver content. I understand that 10 reales was the value used in Gibraltar early in the 19th century for the Spanish so-called 'peso fuerte' or 8 reales silver coin (also known as a piece of eight or Spanish dollar). The reverse of the coin has a figure of a seated Britannia with her right arm outstretched and pointing at Gibraltar in the background with the inscription Gibraltar 1808 above, 10 R to the right, and a key in the exergue. The obverse has a laureate bust of George III with the inscription Georgius III Dei Gratia Rex. The obverse is also countermarked with a portcullis (similar to countermarks used on earlier English coins) on the shoulder of George III. I know that this coin was reproduced in a variety of metals by a company called INA in 1977, so presumably INA (which now seems defunct) worked from a 19th Century original. I also know that European coins were countermarked widely for use in the West Indies during the Napoleonic Wars. I have searched the Internet exhaustively, but learned nothing. Can anyone help? I can provide good pictures of both sides. Beaunic ( talk) — Preceding undated comment added 15:34, 10 August 2015 (UTC)
![]() | This article is rated Start-class on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Apart from the three coins listed and the fact that 24 quarts = 1 real (all gleaned from Krause-Mischler), I know nothing more about this currency. Was the real equal to the
Spanish real (de plata or de vellon)? What was the exchange rate to
sterling?
Dove1950
14:34, 21 December 2005 (UTC)
Hi, I'm from Gibraltar and I collect some of these coins. I know that 1 quart was equal to a quarter of a Spanish real (hence the name quarto or quart) and ¹/24 of a Gibraltarian real. Halves and doubles were also struck, and were equal to a farthing and a penny respectively. -- Chris Buttigieg 21:19, 2 November 2006 (UTC)
I recently found an old book with a lengthy article about Gibraltar's coinage. I have extracted what I think is most relevant for this topic:
The following are key sentences which I believe will also be useful:
Apparently, it wasn't until 1898 that sterling became the official Gibraltar currency. In the 18th century Gibraltar's currency was based on the Spanish silver dollar and though given the same names, the subdivision of the dollar did not have the same value in Spain and Gibraltar. Most of the article deals with coinage in a 18th and 19th century, however, I wasn't sure what would be most revevant. Until 1898 a curious combination of Spanish currency with Gibraltarian variations had been current in the 18th and 19th centuries. The article encompassed too much information which I could convey here, therefore I think I would be best if you pointed out anything which you think I may find in the book and would be relevant. (It also has the different values given to Spanish coins in Gibraltar in the mid-18th century.)
The article does not mention the name 'Gibraltarian Real' instead refers to it as 'the 1842 quarts' or the '1842 issue'. I was thinking that perhaps it would be better to change the (wiki) article to an article about the history of gibraltar coinage in order to encompass a wider aspect, as opposed to what we have now. -- Chris Buttigieg 10:56, 3 January 2007 (UTC)
Dove1950 13:51, 3 January 2007 (UTC)
The different values given to Spanish coins in Gibraltar in the mid-18th century was the following:
real de vellon = 16 quartos in Gibraltar and 8 ½ quartos in Spain | current dollar = 8 reales de vellon / 128 quartos in Gib and 15 reales de vellon / 127 ½ quartos (but taken as 128) in Spain | hard dollar (peso fuerte) = 10 reales de vellon in Gib and 20 reales de vellon in Spain.
Basically, the artificial exchange rate created problems for the troops. They were paid in sterling copper, ie. 1/4d, 1/2d and 1d at the rate of 4/4 for a $1. the copper coins did not have the value in Gibraltar that they had in Britain. The standard Gib coin was the quarto, so British coins were assigned a value in quartos. The farthing was the same size the merchant's quarto and was therefore assigned the same value even though the quarto was worth one 1/12 of a farthing. The pay sergeants did not like working in fractions so they adopted a rate of four shillings (4/-) for one dollar which made the farthing equal to one quarto. Although the soldiers received their pay in sterling coins they were in fact paid in local currency. If they were due to receive twelve pence (44 quartos) they would be given eleven penny coins, as each penny was deemed to be worth four quartos. Try convincing the ordinary soldier that eleven pennies was actually worth one shilling in Gibraltar! He would argue until he was blue in the face that a shilling always consisted of twelve pence and he would clamour for the missing penny which he had not received. -- Chris Buttigieg 15:21, 3 January 2007 (UTC)
The summary is excellent, and really sums it all up. Thanks for everything ;) -- Chris Buttigieg 12:50, 6 January 2007 (UTC)
I am an English coin collector and dealer. I have a Gibraltar 10 reales 1808 coin or token in vellon, or base metal with a small silver content. I understand that 10 reales was the value used in Gibraltar early in the 19th century for the Spanish so-called 'peso fuerte' or 8 reales silver coin (also known as a piece of eight or Spanish dollar). The reverse of the coin has a figure of a seated Britannia with her right arm outstretched and pointing at Gibraltar in the background with the inscription Gibraltar 1808 above, 10 R to the right, and a key in the exergue. The obverse has a laureate bust of George III with the inscription Georgius III Dei Gratia Rex. The obverse is also countermarked with a portcullis (similar to countermarks used on earlier English coins) on the shoulder of George III. I know that this coin was reproduced in a variety of metals by a company called INA in 1977, so presumably INA (which now seems defunct) worked from a 19th Century original. I also know that European coins were countermarked widely for use in the West Indies during the Napoleonic Wars. I have searched the Internet exhaustively, but learned nothing. Can anyone help? I can provide good pictures of both sides. Beaunic ( talk) — Preceding undated comment added 15:34, 10 August 2015 (UTC)