Existing comment:
Quarter of a Spanish silver real, about 1600
This coin was excavated at Nominy plantation, Westmoreland County
Spain's gold and silver coins were essential for American commerce from 1607 until the 1850s, when the US government finally was able to provide a sufficient quantity of its own currency. The gold and silver stolen from Mexico and South America made Spain the wealthiest nation in Europe, and it provided the material for currency. This coin has been quartered, from which we get the coinage term "quarter." |