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There were major gold deposits in Colombia; a mint opened at Santa Fe de Bogotá in 1620, and it produced the first gold coins (cobs) in Spanish America in 1622. Unlike silver, the gold coins show the king's portrait obverse. A second illegal debasement of the cob coinage in the Viceroyalty of Peru in 1631–1648 was a major scandal.
Spanish American gold coins were minted in one-half, one, two, four, and eight escudo denominations, with each escudo worth around two Spanish dollars or $2. The two-escudo (or $4 coin) was the "doubloon" or "pistole", and the large eight-escudo (or $16) was a "quadruple pistole".
The first escudo was a gold coin introduced in 1535/1537, with coins denominated in escudos issued until 1833. It was initially worth 16 reales . When different reales were introduced, the escudo became worth 16 reales de plata in 1642, then 16 reales de plata fuerte or 40 reales de vellón from 1737.
Coins were minted in both Spain and Latin America from the 16th to 19th centuries in silver 1 ⁄ 2, 1, 2, 4 and 8 reales nacionales and in gold 1 ⁄ 2, 1, 2, 4 and 8 escudos. The silver 8-real coin was known as the Spanish dollar (as the coin was minted to the specifications of the thaler of the Holy Roman Empire and Habsburg monarchy ), peso ...
It continued to be minted to Spanish standards throughout the 19th century, with the peso at 27.07 grams (0.955 oz) of 0.9028 fine silver, and the escudo at 3.383 grams (0.1193 oz) of 0.875 fine gold. The Mexican peso or 8-real coin continued to be a popular international trading coin throughout the 19th century. [citation needed]
Most issued silver coins in denominations of 1 ⁄ 4, 1 ⁄ 2, 1, 2, 4 and 8 reales and gold coins for 1 ⁄ 2, 1, 2, 4 and 8 escudos. Exceptions were the Santo Domingo mint, which did strike maravedíes in the sixteenth century and the Caracas mint which issued fraction of real copper coins in the early nineteenth century to facilitate commerce.
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