1759, Kingdom of Spain, Ferdinand VI. Silver 1 Real (½ Cross Pistareen) Coin. F
Mint Year: 1759 Mint Mark: S (Seville) Reference: KM-389.2. Denomination: 1 Real (½ Pistareen) Condition: A few digs, otherwise Fine! Assayers: Jose de Villaviciosa and Vicente Diez de la Fuente (JV) Diameter: 20mm Weight: 2.44gm Material: Silver
Obverse: Cross with castles and lions in angles inside octolobe. Legend: HISPANIARUM * REX * I759 * Translateion: "King of the Spains"
Reverse: Crowned spanish flanked by value, mint and assayer letters. Legend: . FERDINANDUS . VI . D . G . / .R * S. .I-JV. Translateion: "Ferdinand VI. by the Grace of God"
The Oxford English Dictionary says the word "PISTAREEN" is derived from a popular formation of peseta a diminutive of the pesa of weight, that later became peso, the unit of monetary value in Spain, now equivalent to the Spanish dollar. "Pistareen" is both "An American or West Indian name for a small Spanish silver coin formerly current there" or, alternatively, "Concerned with small matters; petty, paltry, picayune." The pistareen to be more specific is a thin, round, silver coin, about the size of a modern day quarter on whose face it proclaims to be worth two reales. Pistareens were minted in Spain from the late 17th to the early 19th century.
Ferdinand VI, (September 23, 1713 – August 10, 1759), King of Spain from 1746 until his death, second son of Philip V, founder of the Spanish Bourbon dynasty (as opposed to the French Bourbons), by his first marriage with Maria Louisa of Savoy, was born at Madrid on September 23, 1713.
When he came to the throne, Spain found itself in the War of the Austrian Succession which ended without any benefit to Spain. He started his reign by eliminating the influence of the widow Queen Elisabeth of Parma and her group of Italian courtesans. As king he followed a steady policy of neutrality in the conflict between France and England, and refused to be tempted by the offers of either into declaring war on the other.
Prominent figures during his reign were the Marquis of Ensenada, a Francophile; and José de Carvajal y Lancaster, a supporter of the alliance with Great Britain. The fight between both ended in 1754 with the death of Carvajal the fall of Ensenada, making Ricardo Wall the new powerful man of the monarchy.
The most important tasks during the reign of Ferdinand VI were carried out by the Marquis of Ensenada, the Secretary of the Treasury, Navy and Indies. He suggested that the state help modernize the country. To him, this was necessary to maintain a position of exterior strength so that France and Great Britain would consider Spain as an ally without supposing Spain's renunciation of its claim to Gibraltar.
Among his reform projects were:
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