I have been expanding my colonial collection and recently purchased this coin knowing very little about it. From the surface, it is an 1817 Brazil 960 Reis coin. I know that these coins were usually struck over Spanish Colonial 8 Reales and it is quite obvious that this coin originally featured Ferdin VII. There are two items that are curious to me. One the obverse, the inscription reads, “JOANN VII” rather than “JOANNES.” On the reverse, the inscription reads, “HISP” rather than “NATA.” Is this just a bad counterfeit or a more interesting piece?
