Deciphering the Doubloons of Seville

When Christopher Columbus discovered the New World and its vast resources, gold and silver became the life blood of the Spanish Empire. Each year, the Spanish treasure fleet, or “Flota de Indias” transported oil, wine, textiles, books and tools to the Spanish Colonies and on the return voyage, the fleet brought back gold, silver, copper, precious gems, sugar, and other commodities. Gold and silver were the most important as they were used to finance Spain’s war machine and explorer-soldiers known as conquistadors, provide currency for the colonies, and to protect Spain’s interests abroad, especially against the Ottoman empire.

During the reign of King Philip II (1556-1598), the Spanish empire was reaching its peak of global dominance. Many historians refer to the 16th and 17th centuries as “The Golden Age of Spain”. During this period, mints across Spain worked feverishly to melt down the tons of gold and silver taken from the Spanish colonies in the Americas and convert it into Spanish coinage.

The major mints located on the Spanish mainland were located in Granada, Segovia, Toledo, Valladolid, Burgos, Madrid, and Seville. The largest of these mints was the “Real Casa de la Moneda de Sevilla” or the Royal Mint of Seville.

Built from 1585-1587, this mint was the circulation center where gold and silver taken from the New World were melted down and made into gold doubloons and silver reales. Seville produced the largest quantity of hammer struck gold escudos in 1,2,4, and 8-escudo denominations.

The two escudos is also known by another name that conjures up images of pirate lore and sunken treasure – the doubloon. The word doubloon comes from the Spanish word “doblón”, or “double escudo”.

Regardless of whether a doubloon was minted at a mainland Spanish mint or Spanish colonial mint, certain specifications had to be met under the penalty of death. The main criteria were that the weight had to be no less than 6.77 grams and the purity needed to be of 22-karat gold. Coins found to be underweight would raise suspicions that the assayer or someone at the mint may have clipped tiny portions of the coin to accumulate their own gold at the king’s expense.

During the late 16th century, a doubloon was worth about the equivalent of four Spanish 8 Reales or “pieces of eight”. This particular specimen shown here can be seen at: https://commodorecoins.com/treasure/superb-1566-1587-seville-spain-2-escudos-pcgs-au-58/

Deciphering The Symbols of The Shield

Doubloons minted at the Seville mint during the reign of Philip II have a beautiful and fascinating design that expresses 16th century Spanish heraldry.

The shield is an amalgamation of the House of Habsburg and the symbols of the royal arms of Spain’s territorial possessions at the time.

In the upper left hand corner of the shield, you see two castles and two lions in four quadrants. The lions symbolize the Spanish province of León and the castles represent the Spanish province of Castile.

To the right of the castles and lions you have three vertical lines, which represent the royal arms of the kingdom of Catalonia-Aragon (another province within 16th century Spain). To the right is a pair of eagles that represent Naples and

Sicily. Below these you have the arms of New Burgundy (a territory that was in East Central France) represented by three fleur-de-lis. Under the fleur-de-lis you have the royal arm of Brabant (the Low Countries comprised of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxemburg). The symbol of Old Burgundy at the bottom left is represented by three diagonal lines, and the three horizontal lines above represent Austria. In the center you see a pomegranate within a triangle signifying Granada. Lastly, at the center near the bottom of the shield is a small shield divided in two that contains a lion on the left representing Flanders (Belgium) and a falcon to the right representing Tyrol (a region including Austria and Northern Italy).

Other Design Features of the Obverse

To the left of the shield on the obverse is the letter “S”, which represents the Seville mint and underneath it is a gothic letter “D”, which is the initial for the last name of the mint assayer Melchor Damian. He oversaw the mint operations from 1566 to1586 and again from 1588 to1590. Other assayer’s initials that may be found on doubloons minted at Seville during the reign of King Philip II include “F”, “C”, “H”, or “B”.

To the right of the shield you have a Roman numeral II, which represents the denomination until later dated varieties were made. The shield, assayer’s initial, mint mark, and denomination are surrounded by a halo of golden dots.

The legend on the shield side is in Latin and reads “PHILIPPVS II DEI GRATIA”, which means “Philip II by the Grace of God”.

From 1588 to1597 the dies were modified and the denomination was moved from the right side to the left of the shield between the mint mark and the assayer’s initial. The date was then added to the right of the shield under the halo of dots as shown in this example.

In 1580, Spain and Portugal united the Iberian Peninsula and towards the end of King Philip II’s reign, the mint at Seville produced some two escudos where the shield design changed.

Sometime in the late 1580’s, the Habsburg coat of arms was modified to include the arms of Portugal at the center above the arms of Granada. This variety typically shows the letter “B” to the left of the shield, which stands for Juan Vicente Bravo, who was the assayer from 1592-1615. Typically, Seville doubloons dated to 1597 and 1598 show this change.

Although other mints produced coins with the addition of the Portuguese arms earlier than the Seville mint, very few examples are known to exist of doubloons minted at Seville during the reign of Philip II that show the Portuguese arms.

Here is a beautiful illustration from the early 17th century that shows what the Spanish coat of arms looked like with the addition of the arms of Portugal.

The Reverse Design Elements

The legend on the cross-side of Seville doubloons rests between halos of golden pearls. The outer halo is usually struck off the flan so they are rarely visible. The legend reads in Latin “HISPANIARVM·REX”, which means “King of Spain”.

At the center of the coin is the classic Jerusalem or Crusader Cross, which symbolizes the unity of the Catholic Church and the state. The cross is surrounded by a quatrefoil with four golden rings at the intersection of each lobe.

The cross also displays four fleur-de-lis, at each of the four quadrants of the cross. The symbol of the fleur-de-lis or “Lily flower” is of French origin and symbolizes purity and chastity, and were often used to represent the Virgin Mary.

The fleur-de-lis has also been used to represent Christ or the Holy Trinity. The three petals making one flower makes a clear connection with the three persons of the Trinity – Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.