Description:
This rare Spanish silver two reales coin was minted in Valladolid, Spain during the rule of King Philip III. The obverse side of this coin features a cross with lions and castles in the quarters. The reverse shows the Philip III royal coat of arms with the assayer D mintmark. Between 1601 to 1606, Philip III made Valladolid the capital of the Spanish Kingdom. A century earlier in 1506, Christopher Columbus died in a house in Valladolid that is now a museum dedicated to him.
From the House of Habsburg, Philip III ruled during the "Golden Age of Spain", with territories and colonies in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Oceana. With the discovery of untold riches that were mined in the Americas, the Spanish and their mighty galleon fleets were the premier supplier of gold and silver coins for the world. This vastly increased the shipping trade and made many merchants wealthy, both in Spain and in the colonies. However, during this adventurous age, it was inevitable that large amounts of Spanish treasure would be lost on land and at sea due to pirates, storms and other unforeseen misfortunes.
Spanish coins, known as "cobs", that circulated in this epic era were hand struck from dies and cut to weight. Minted in five denominations in silver, the largest was the eight reales, famous in the colonies and among pirates as a “Piece of Eight.” The other denominations were four reales, two reales, one real and half real. Cob coinage with their unusual shapes are all unique and each is a one-of-a-kind piece of history.
