I got my first pillar dollar about 2 months ago. It is a rather crusty VF-35 with dark toning, but it is a late era pillar dollar, roughly 2-3 years before the type was completely replaced. Mexico 1775 8R Carlos III NGC VF-35 But you know what they say, sometimes one isn't enough. So before you knew it, there was a second. This one is also Mexico, but much earlier and from Philip V. Mexico 1746 8R Philip V PCGS VF-35 It is decidedly less crusty than my original, which some people may like and some may not, but it does make it a little easier to appreciate the design. Feel free to post your pillar dollars.
This is lower grade than the one I used to own, but it's an earlier date, and I like the contrasting toning on it. Here's the previous coin I used to own. PCGS AU50.
I've posted lots of pillar dollars in various places on this site so here's something different but related: 1684 ducato of the Kingdom of Naples (and Sicily). The obverse shows the bust of Charles II, ruler of the Spanish Empire which, at this time, included the Southern portion of Italy and the island of Sicily. The reverse has the legend VNVS NON SVFFICIT (one is not enough) which was previously seen on medals and printed works of art as VNVS NON SVFFICIT ORBIS (one world is not enough), and depicts a pillar surmounted by a crown and two hemispheres of the globe. The initials on the reverse are for the mint official Andrea Giovane and assayer F. Antonio Ariani. On the obverse, the initials under the bust are for the engraver Giovanni Montemein. Earlier depictions of the two globes theme are not as geographically representative of the New and Old Worlds as we see on this coin. The earliest example that I have found is from a medal commemorating the union of the French King Francis II and Mary, Queen of the Scots from no earlier than 1558. Another example is a medal of Francis I, with a date of 1515 but likely produced in the 17th Century, showing one earthly globe juxtaposed with a celestial globe. It seems unlikely that Francisco Hernández Escudero was unaware of these precedents when he designed the iconic pillar dollar in 1729, a coin that would become so successful as a trade dollar across the globe.
