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Message:: [QUOTE="acanthite, post: 407703, member: 6647"]The coins appearing to be silver was the 800 lb gorilla I didn't think about until after logging off yesterday. Aside from that, I wanted to address Doug's assertion regarding the copper issues from Mexico:   I did read this in Menzel (which is in turn a quote from Pradeau's Historia numismatica): "Mendoza realized that daily life for the general population required coins of lesser value than the 1/4 and 1/2 real pieces then in circulation. He duly promoted the coining of 2- and 4-maravedies copper pieces as the solution in 1536 or early 1537. But the copper coins were rejected by the general population, especially the Indians, with considerable distain; and the mintage was discontinued by 1538." So Menzel does show several varieties of the 4 maravedies before the 1538 decree, but does mention that there are no known 2 maravedies from this period in existence. If the Indians rejected the copper coins, they must have been circulating.    I can't disagree with any of that, Doug knows much more about these coins than I do. Assuming they are not fakes, I wonder if it is possible that some experimentation in debased silver was conducted for these pieces in the late 1530's, considering how difficult is was to get the local populace to accept copper. I do not know of a reference to back that wild assertion, however.[/QUOTE]