doubloon
Sign in to savethumb|right|Spanish 4-doubloon, or doubloon of 8 escudos, stamped as minted in Mexico city mint in 1798. Obverse: Carlos IV of Spain|Carol.IIII.D.G. Hisp.et Ind.R. Reverse:.in.utroq.felix. .auspice.deo.fm. The doubloon (from Spanish doblón, or "double", i.e. double escudo) was a two-escudo gold coin worth approximately four Spanish dollars or 32 reales, and weighing 6.766 grams (0.218 troy ounce) of 22-karat gold (or 0.917 fine; hence 6.2 g fine gold). Doubloons were minted in Spain and the viceroyalties of New Spain, Peru, and New Granada (modern-day Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela).
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- History
- In other countries
- See also
- References
thumb|right|Spanish 4-doubloon, or doubloon of 8 escudos, stamped as minted in Mexico city mint in 1798. Obverse: Carlos IV of Spain|Carol.IIII.D.G. Hisp.et Ind.R. Reverse:.in.utroq.felix. .auspice.deo.fm. The doubloon (from Spanish doblón, or "double", i.e. double escudo) was a two-escudo gold coin worth approximately four Spanish dollars or 32 reales, and weighing 6.766 grams (0.218 troy ounce) of 22-karat gold (or 0.917 fine; hence 6.2 g fine gold). Doubloons were minted in Spain and the viceroyalties of New Spain, Peru, and New Granada (modern-day Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela). As the Spanish escudo (3.1 g fine gold) succeeded the heavier gold excelente (or ducado, ducat, 3.48 g) as the standard Spanish gold coin, the doubloon therefore succeeded the doble excelente or double-ducat denomination.
In modern times, the doubloon is remembered due in large part to the influence of historical fiction about piracy, in which gold coins were prime booty.