I picked up this piece from the last WINS auction, and now this happy little fellow resided with my collection of New World pieces. I find it to be a great addition. This particular coin was minted by Royalist Zacatecas during the war of independance. Zacatecas produced four of the original five silver denominations of the Spanish Reale - being 1/2, 1, 2, and 8 (no denomination of 4 reales appear to have been minted). This example bears the assayer initials of AG, and luckily this coin vastly exceeds that grade! Although they bear a keen likeness of the actual spanish minted versions, they are a little more crude in design. This example has a few marks on the obverse, but, for some reason, that appears common on these issues. In 1822 the stopped minting the standard bust from the Spanish Crown, Ferdinand VII.
