World Silver - 1779MO FF 8 Reales, Mexico NGC MS64

From 1772 to 1808 Spanish America produced hundreds of millions of silver 8 reales coins (a.k.a. 'pieces of eight' or 'Spanish dollars') bearing the images of the Spanish Bourbon kings Charles III (1772-1791) and Charles IV (1791-1808). 'Reales' means 'royal.' These were known as 'Carolus' and in China were called 'old heads,' 'foreign heads' or sikong-yib. Due to the huge volume struck, along with the consistency in appearance, shape, size, weight and fineness, the Carolus of Spanish America became the most reliable international means of payment before the gold-backed British pound. Interestingly, Chinese merchants had little or no desire to employ gold (coin or bullion) in their financial dealings.  China had no monetary sovereignty and thus no banking system within which to develop a system of trade and credit. Fundamentally, China relied on Spain to act as its 'central bank,' using its Spanish American specie as an economic anchor for domestic and international finance. Thus the Carolus was the linchpin of the Chinese economy from 1772 to 1808 and beyond.