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The real was a currency of Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
, issued until 1897. There were 16 silver reales to 1 gold escudo
Escudo

The escudo is a unit of currency. It was used in Portugal, in Spain and in their colonies and continues in use in several nations today. Currently, Cape Verde uses the escudo as its unit of currency....
, with 8 tlacos to the real. The peso
Mexican peso

The peso is the currency of Mexico. The symbol used for the peso is "dollar sign", basically the same as for the US dollar since the dollar derived its logo from the Spanish-Mexican currency....
, which circulated alongside the real and eventually replaced it, was equal to 8 reales.

The first reales issued in Mexico were Spanish colonial real
Spanish colonial real

The real was the currency of Spain colonies in the Americas. The real was equal to the Spanish real. Gold escudos were also issued. The coins circulated throughout Spain's colonies and beyond, with the eight reales piece becoming an international standard and spawning, among other currencies, the United States dollar....
es. These were followed in 1822 by independent issues of Mexico. In 1863, Mexico began issuing a decimal currency based on the peso but coins denominated in reales (in particular 8 reales coins) continued to be minted until 1897.

er coins were issued in denominations of ¼, ½, 1, 2, 4 and 8 reales, with gold coins for ½, 1, 2, 4 and 8 escudos.






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The real was a currency of Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
, issued until 1897. There were 16 silver reales to 1 gold escudo
Escudo

The escudo is a unit of currency. It was used in Portugal, in Spain and in their colonies and continues in use in several nations today. Currently, Cape Verde uses the escudo as its unit of currency....
, with 8 tlacos to the real. The peso
Mexican peso

The peso is the currency of Mexico. The symbol used for the peso is "dollar sign", basically the same as for the US dollar since the dollar derived its logo from the Spanish-Mexican currency....
, which circulated alongside the real and eventually replaced it, was equal to 8 reales.

The first reales issued in Mexico were Spanish colonial real
Spanish colonial real

The real was the currency of Spain colonies in the Americas. The real was equal to the Spanish real. Gold escudos were also issued. The coins circulated throughout Spain's colonies and beyond, with the eight reales piece becoming an international standard and spawning, among other currencies, the United States dollar....
es. These were followed in 1822 by independent issues of Mexico. In 1863, Mexico began issuing a decimal currency based on the peso but coins denominated in reales (in particular 8 reales coins) continued to be minted until 1897.

Coins


Colonial Period

Silver coins were issued in denominations of ¼, ½, 1, 2, 4 and 8 reales, with gold coins for ½, 1, 2, 4 and 8 escudos. Between 1814 and 1821, copper coins were also issued for ?, ¼ and tlaco.

War of Independence

During the Mexican War of Independence
Mexican War of Independence

Mexican War of Independence , was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and Spanish colonial authorities, which started on 16 September 1810....
 (1810-1821), numerous mints operated, providing coins for both the supporters and opponents of the Spanish crown. The Royalist issued coins at mints in Chihuahua
Chihuahua, Chihuahua

The city of Chihuahua is the state capital of the Mexican Mexican state of Chihuahua . It has a population of about 748,551. The predominant activity is light industry, in the form of maquiladoras....
, Durango
Durango

Durango is one of the constituent states of Mexico. Its population is 1,509,118. It has Mexico's second-lowest population density, after Baja California Sur....
, Guadalajara
Guadalajara, Jalisco

Guadalajara is the capital city of the Mexico state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of the state and in the western-Pacific area of Mexico....
, Guanajuato
Guanajuato, Guanajuato

The Mexican city of Guanajuato is the capital of the state of the same name. It is located at , 370 km northwest of Mexico City, at an elevation of 1,996 m above sea level....
, Nueva Viscaya
Nueva Vizcaya, New Spain

Nueva Vizcaya was the first province in the north of the Viceroyalty of New Spain to be explored and settled by the Spanish. It consisted mostly of the area which is today the states of Chihuahua and Durango....
, Oaxaca
Oaxaca, Oaxaca

The city of Oaxaca is the capital and largest city of the Mexico Oaxaca .It is located in the Valley of Oaxaca in the Sierra Madre del Sur Mountains, at near the geographic center of the state, and at an altitude of about 1550 m ....
, Real del Catorce, San Fernando de Bexar
San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio is the second-largest city in the state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population. Located in , the city is a cultural and geographical gateway into the ....
, San Luis Potosí
San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí

San Luis Potos?, also called SLP or simply San Luis, is the capital of and most populous city in the Mexico Mexican state of San Luis Potos?....
, Sombrerete, Valladolid Michoacán
Morelia

Morelia is the capital of the Mexico States of Mexico of Michoac?n. The city is situated at an elevation of 1,921 meters above sea level in the region of the Guayangareo Valley, surrounded by the Punhuato and Quinceo Hills....
 and Zacatecas
Zacatecas, Zacatecas

Zacatecas is a city in Mexico, the capital of the state of Zacatecas. It was founded 1548, two years after the nearby discovery of silver, and became an officially-recognized city in 1584....
. Most Royalist issues were similar in style to the earlier colonial issues from the Mexico City
Mexico City

Mexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the most important economic, industrial, and cultural center in the country; the most populous city with over 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008....
 mint with no new denominations issed.

Insurgent coins were minted at various locations including Nueva Galicia
Nueva Galicia

El Nuevo Reino de Galicia or Nueva Galicia was a region of Viceroyalty of New Spain. It was named after Galicia in Spain. Nueva Galicia's territory became the present-day Administrative divisions of Mexico of Aguascalientes, Colima and Jalisco, and parts of the neighbouring states of Durango, Guanajuato, Michoac?n, Nayarit and Zacat...
, Oaxaca
Oaxaca, Oaxaca

The city of Oaxaca is the capital and largest city of the Mexico Oaxaca .It is located in the Valley of Oaxaca in the Sierra Madre del Sur Mountains, at near the geographic center of the state, and at an altitude of about 1550 m ....
, Puebla
Puebla, Puebla

The city of Puebla, officially Heroic Puebla de Zaragoza is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Puebla. The city has a population of 1,399,519 ....
 and Veracruz
Veracruz, Veracruz

The city of Veracruz is a major port city and municipalities of Mexico on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexico States of Mexico of Veracruz. The metropolitan areas of Mexico is Mexico's largest on the Gulf coast and an important east coast port....
. There were also issues made in the names of the Supreme National Congress of America, the National Congress and the American Congress which, although considered Insurgent issues, bore the titles of Ferdinand VII. Both Royalists and Insurgents also issued countermarked pieces.

Empire of Iturbide

Between 1821 and 1823, coins were issued by the government of Agustín de Iturbide
Agustín de Iturbide

Agust?n de Iturbide was born into a noble family in Valladolid, New Spain . He was commissioned into the colonial army when still in his teens....
. There were copper ? and ¼ real, silver ½, 1, 2 and 8 reales, and gold 4 and 8 escudos.

The obverses of the silver and gold coins carried a variety of portraits of the Emperor with the legend "August(inus) Dei Prov(identia)" and the date, or "Augustinus Dei Providentia" and the date. The reverse had several different versions of the Mexican eagle, a golden eagle
Golden Eagle

The Golden Eagle is one of the best known bird of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas....
 (Aquila chrysaetos). It was a traditional symbol of the Aztec
Aztec

Aztec is a term used to refer to certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl and who achieved political and military dominance over large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the Late post-Classic period in Mesoamerican chronology....
s, but it was changed according to European heraldic traditions (see Coat of Arms of Mexico
Coat of arms of Mexico

The Coat of Arms of Mexico has been an important symbol of Mexican politics and Mexican culture for centuries. The coat of arms depicts a Mexican golden Eagle perched upon a cactus devouring a snake....
). The legends read "Mex I Imperator Constiiut" together with the denomination and assayer's initials.

Republic Issues

With the adoption of the 1824 republican constitution
1824 Constitution of Mexico

The 1824 Constitution of Mexico was the first full constitution adopted by the Mexico. Enacted on October 4, 1824, following the overthrow of the short-lived Mexican Empire of Agust?n de Iturbide, the constitution stated that the new republic was to be styled the "United Mexican States" and was to be a Representative democracy federal republi...
, the United Mexican States began issuing coins. There were silver ½, 1, 2, 4 and 8 reales, and gold ½, 1, 2, 4 and 8 escudos, with silver ¼ reales added in 1842. Copper coins for , ? and ¼ real were issued both by the Federal government at the Mexico City mint and by the state governments at various mints around the country.

On the republic's coins, the Mexican eagle moved to the obverse, with the legend "República Mexicana". The reverse featured a liberty cap
Phrygian cap

The Phrygian cap is a soft, red, conical hat with the top pulled forward, worn in antiquity by the inhabitants of Phrygia, a region of central Anatolia....
 with rays behind. The legend on the reverse reads "-denomination- -mintmark- -date- -assayer's initials- 10 Ds. 20 Gs." Mexico used the medieval system of dineros and granos to measure the fineness of their coins, twelve dineros designating pure silver with each dinero divided into 24 granos. A coin of 10 Ds. 20 Gs equated to .902777 fine.

The brief reign of Maximillian (1864-67) interrupted the production of republic type coins and many of the denominations ceased production either in 1863 or by 1870, as the decimal currency based on the peso was introduced. However, 8 reales coins continued in production until 1897.