Item number: A3738

Item number: KM#492

Year: AD 1817

Material: Gold (.875)

Size: 14.4 x 14.2 x 0.6 mm

Weight: 1.85 g

Manufactured by: Casa de Moneda de Madrid

Provenance: Fuchin Coin 2025

This is an AD 1817 half-escudo gold coin issued in the name of King Ferdinand VII of Spain. At the time, one maravedí in copper was worth approximately 34 reales in silver, and 40 reales equalled one gold escudo.

The obverse bears a portrait of Ferdinand VII in his youth, laureate and facing right. Around it runs the abbreviated Latin legend “FERDIN · VII · D · G · HISP · R”, standing for “Ferdinandus VII Dei Gratia Hispaniarum Rex”, meaning “Ferdinand VII, by the grace of God, King of the Spains”. The date “1817” appears below.

The reverse displays a simplified oval coat of arms of the Kingdom of Spain in the form of a quartered shield. The first and fourth quarters contain a triple-towered castle representing Castile; the second and third display a crowned rampant lion symbolising León. The small central escutcheon with three fleurs-de-lis represents the Bourbon dynasty. Surrounding the shield is the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece, its chain composed of fire-steels of Burgundian form, with the Golden Fleece suspended below. The shield is topped with the royal crown. To the left appears a crowned “M”, the mintmark of the Madrid Mint, while the letters “G · J” on the right refer to Gregorio Lázaro Labrandero and José Sánchez Delagado, probably the mint officials responsible for die engraving and assaying. The coin was designed by the engraver Félix Sagau y Dalmau de Galcerán.

During the reign of Ferdinand VII (AD 1808–1833), Spain retained the Bourbon bimetallic system, comprising parallel gold and silver denominations. Gold coinage followed the escudo standard, silver the real, with a fixed ratio of 1 escudo = 16 reales. Regular issues included the gold onza (onza), 8 escudos, 2 escudos, 1 escudo and the half-escudo, together with principal silver denominations such as the 8 reales (the so-called Spanish dollar or duro) and the 20 reales. After Ferdinand’s restoration in 1814, the mints of Madrid, Seville and others resumed the production of bust-type gold and silver coins. During and after the Peninsular War, numerous local and emergency issues—various duro types, provisional reales and low-value copper coins—also appeared, often diverging markedly from the official designs and contributing to the great diversity of monetary types from this period.

Ferdinand VII’s rule was repeatedly interrupted and restored, spanning the Napoleonic invasion, the Peninsular War (Guerra de la Independencia), and the oscillation between absolutist and liberal regimes—one of the most turbulent episodes in modern Spanish history. He first ascended the throne in 1808 following the abdication of his father, Charles IV, but was quickly forced by Napoleon to cede the crown; Joseph Bonaparte was installed as king, prompting a nationwide resistance in whose name local juntas issued wartime emergency coinage. Ferdinand’s restoration in 1814 marked a return to absolutism and the abolition of the Constitution of Cádiz. Yet the liberal military uprising of 1820 inaugurated the “Trienio Liberal”, during which he was compelled to accept constitutional government (1820–1823). In 1823, with intervention by the Holy Alliance, French forces overthrew the liberal regime and restored Ferdinand’s unrestricted authority, initiating his fourth and final period of rule (1823–1833).

Meanwhile, the Spanish overseas empire rapidly collapsed. From the AD 1810s onward, the power vacuum created by the Napoleonic wars and the spread of Enlightenment ideas triggered independence movements across Latin America: Argentina and Chile were among the first to secede. In 1819, Spain’s defeat by Simón Bolívar at the Battle of Boyacá marked the independence of Gran Colombia; over the following decade, Mexico, Peru and Bolivia also achieved independence, leaving Spain bereft of almost all its American possessions. The loss of colonial revenue, the mounting costs of war and chronic political instability resulted in severe fiscal strain, which was directly reflected in the volatility and irregularity of coinage during this era.

物件編號: A3738

參考書目編號: KM#492

年代: 公元 1817 年

材質: 黃金 (875‰)

尺寸: 14.4 x 14.2 x 0.6 mm

重量: 1.85 g

製造地: 馬德里皇家鑄幣廠

來源: 福君錢幣 2025

這是一枚公元1817年，以西班牙國王斐迪南七世之名義發行的半埃斯庫多金幣。在當時，1馬拉威迪銅幣約等於34里爾銀幣，40里爾銀幣約等於1埃斯庫多金幣。

金幣的正面為較年輕時的斐迪南七世的肖像，頭戴桂冠，面朝右。周圍環列拉丁簡寫幣銘「FERDIN · VII· D · G · HISP · R」，即「Ferdinand VII Dei Gratia Hispaniarum Rex」，意為「斐迪南七世，蒙上帝恩典的西班牙國王」。下方「1817」標示了發行年。

金幣的背面為簡易的西班牙王國紋章，為四分橢圓盾徽的形式。左上與右下的部分為三座尖頂的塔樓，代表卡斯提爾王國。右上與左下的部分則是戴冠人立的雄獅，代表里昂王國。中央橢圓小盾徽上的三朵鳶尾花，則是代表了波旁王室。盾緣環繞金羊毛騎士團的大鍊章，由象徵勃艮第的火鐮構成鍊條，下方懸吊克律索馬羅斯的金羊毛。盾徽頂飾為西班牙皇冠。紋章左側為戴冠的「M」，為馬德里鑄幣廠的鑄幣標記，右側「G·J」則分別是鑄幣廠官員格雷戈里奧·拉薩羅·拉布蘭德羅(Gregorio Lázaro Labrandero)與何塞·桑切斯·德拉加多(José Sánchez Delagado)的署名，可能是錢模雕刻師與驗金師。該硬幣為雕刻師費利克斯·薩高·伊·達爾瑪烏·德·加爾塞蘭(Félix Sagau y Dalmau de Galcerán)所設計。

斐迪南七世(FerdinandVII)在位期間的西班牙貨幣體系延續波旁王朝以來的金銀雙本位制度，其核心由金幣的埃斯庫多(escudo)與銀幣的里爾(real)兩套體系組成，並維持1埃斯庫多=16里爾的固定金銀比價。正式鑄幣包括金盎司(onza)、8埃斯庫多、2埃斯庫多、小額埃斯庫多及半埃斯庫多等金幣，以及8里爾(即俗稱的西班牙銀元duro)、20里爾等主要銀幣。斐迪南七世復位後，馬德里、塞維利亞與其他造幣廠重新鑄造胸像式金銀幣。半島戰爭期間及其後，多地亦出現大量地方性、戰時緊急鑄幣(包括變體杜羅、臨時里爾與低面額銅幣)，幣圖與正規鑄幣差異甚大，使得斐迪南七世時期貨幣的種類繁多。

斐迪南七世的統治經歷數度中斷與復辟，橫跨拿破崙入侵、半島戰爭(Guerrade la Independencia)，並在保王派與自由派之間劇烈擺盪，是西班牙近代政治最為動盪的時期之一。公元1808年他在父王卡洛斯四世退位後首次登基，但旋即被拿破崙迫使退位，法國扶植約瑟夫·波拿巴(Joseph Bonaparte)即位，引發全國性的抗法抵抗，地方政務會(juntas)遂以其名義鑄造戰時臨時貨幣。公元1814年斐迪南七世復位後恢復專制，廢除《加的斯憲法》，形成其第二次統治；然而公元1820年自由派軍官起義導致「自由三年」(Trienio Liberal)，他在公元1820至1823年間被迫接受憲政體制，形成第三次統治。公元1823年在神聖同盟干涉下，法軍推翻憲政政權，他再度恢復專制，進入第四次也是最後一段統治，直至公元1833年逝世。

與此同時，西班牙海外帝國迅速瓦解。自公元1810年代起，因拿破崙戰爭造成的權力真空以及啟蒙思潮的擴散，拉丁美洲各地爆發獨立運動，阿根廷與智利率先脫離宗主國。公元1819年，西班牙在波亞卡戰役(Batallade Boyacá)敗於西蒙·玻利瓦(Simón Bolívar)，為大哥倫比亞(Gran Colombia)的獨立的開端；其後十年間，墨西哥、祕魯與玻利維亞也相繼獨立，使西班牙幾乎喪失全部美洲殖民地。海外收入驟減、戰爭支出龐大以及內政反覆，造成財政極度緊縮，也直接反映在該時期貨幣的頻繁更替與不穩定上。

馬德里的皇家鑄幣廠(Casa de Moneda de Madrid)最早可追溯至公元1591年，是西班牙在近代早期為集中鑄幣權而設立的重要皇家造幣中心。它自十七世紀起成為西班牙金、銀、銅幣的主要生產地，特別是在波旁王朝改革後，引入滾軋與機械打幣技術，使其逐漸成為全國鑄幣的核心機構。十九世紀的多數官方流通幣，包括埃斯庫多與里爾體系，均在馬德里鑄造。該傳統在公元1893年被納入新成立的「國家造幣與印鈔廠」(Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre, FNMT)，成為今日西班牙官方造幣體系的前身。