HISTORY

Spanish Milled Dollar

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Spanish Milled Dollar front
Spanish Milled Dollar back
  • In 1535, Spain opened a mint in Mexico, followed by other mints in Latin America, that produced Spanish dollars. These coins were also called pesos, a unit of weight.
  • Queen Anne's Proclamation of 1704 made the Spanish dollar a monetary unit in the American colonies, worth six shillings.
  • In the Coinage Act of 1792, Congress used the Spanish milled dollar as the basis of the American system of gold, silver, and copper coins.
  • The Coinage Act of 1857 ended the use of the Spanish dollar, and all other foreign coins, as legal tender in the United States.