Ferdinand VI half reales

by Brad Yonaka

Introduction

The milled columnario half real is one of five denominations of silver coinage produced by the Mexico City mint from 1732 to 1771. It was the smallest silver coin for its time from that mint, the quarter real only being struck for the first time in 1796. The milled half real was preceded by cob coinage (which overlaps to 1733), and followed by portrait-type milled coinage in 1772. The famous and symbolic pillar and globe design makes it highly collectible, at least as a type coin. Despite this, there is little information on mintages and an incomplete accounting of major varieties for the forty year span of issue.

In general, it can be said that production of half reales was for the most part stable, but fluctuated over periods of five or more years. An early pulse of mintage from 1734 to 1740 was followed by less production from 1741-1745. Then a period of increasing mintage from 1746-1758 (with the stark exception of 1756) and gradual decrease to very low mintages in 1766. Thereafter occurred another gradual increase to the end of the series.
The following table was compliled by Brad Yonaka.

The alpha-numeric sequence assigned to each type is per the system created by Gilboy^{Frank F. Gilboy, The Milled Columnarios of Central and South America. Regina, Canada: Prairie Wind Publishing, Inc., 1999.}), as this is by far the most comprehensive of all references. Cases where Gilboy) does not report the variety, I have assigned suffixes starting with the letter u, v, etc, and show the number sequence in red. I also show (where applicable) the number assigned by Cayon ^{Adolfo Cayon, Clemente Cayon, and Juan Cayon, Las Monedas Espanoles Volumen I – Del tremis al euro. Madrid, Spain: Cayon-Jano S.L., 2005}.

Rarity is taken from personal data on abundance of specimens. In most cases it correlates well with Gilboy in a relative sense, given that his database must have been many times larger. Where Brad Yonaka has not observed the variety, rarity is per that of Gilboy.

Gilboy # or (added)	Cayon#	Date	Assayer's Initial	Mint mark	Rarity*	Variety
Philip V died in July 1746 and Ferdinand VI took the throne, but this news did not reach the Mexico City mint until 1747. Thus, all coins from 1746 are in the name of Philip, and coins with both names appear in 1747.
M-05-21	10152	1747	M		N	FRD VI
	Less common date and type. At least one reverse die shared with M-05-20 (the posthumous issue for Philip V).
M-05-21a	10151	1747/6	M		RRR	one year OD, 2 pellets after obverse R
	Extremely rare variety, only one die pair observed. Gilboy, however, notes it as 'rare'.
M-05-22	10158	1748	M		C
	Common date. Numerous fakes observed.
M-05-22a	(10157)	1748/7	M		S	one year OD
			Relatively common overdate, with many different reverse dies. Some sharing of obverse dies with M-05-22. Cayon lists this variety as also being FRD/PHS, but this has not been observed.
(M-05-22u)	-	1748	M		RRR	No pellet to right of date
	Variety unlisted in references. Similar to M-05-19a. Two die pairs observed.
M-05-23	10165	1749	M		C
	Common date. No listed or observed varieties for year.
M-05-24	10170	1750	M		C
	Common date.
M-05-24a	-	1750	M		RR	Knobs on crowns flanking globes
	Gilboy lists this variety as 'rare'. Only one die pair observed.
M-05-25	10177	1751	M		C
	Common date. No listed or observed varieties for year.
M-05-26	10185	1752	M		C
	Common date, 30 die pairs observed. Gilboy lists this date as 'less common'. No listed or observed varieties.
M-05-27	10192	1753	M		C
	The most common date of Ferdinand VI half reales, over 40 die pairs observed. Some dies show repunched 3/3 in date.
M-05-27a	-	1753/1	M		RRRR	two year OD
	Very rare variety. Difficult to distinguish 3/1.
(M-05-27u)	-	1753	M		RRRR	no pellet between VI and D
	Variety not noted in references. One cdie pair observed.
(M-05-27v)	-	1753/2	M		RRRR	one year OD
	Very rare variety. Only one die pair observed.
M-05-28	10199	1754	M		C
	Very common date, over 40 die pairs observed.
M-05-28u	-	1754/3	M		RRRR	one year OD
	Very rare variety. One die pair observed, need better example to confirm.
M-05-29	10208	1755	M		C
	Common date. Two obversed strongly clashed reverse dies. Numerous fakes observed.
(M-05-29u)	-	1755/6	M		R	one year revese OD
			Unusual reverse OD, only occurrence in series. Noted in SCWC but not in Gilboy. Only two die pairs observed. Gilboy may have classified this OD as 1756/5.
M-05-30	10215	1756	M		N
	Scarce date.
M-05-30a	10214	1756/5	M		(R)	one year OD
M-05-31	10223	1757	M		C	both pillar crowns royal
		Common date. To left is example of royal crown, which up to this date was placed ontop both reverse pillars.
M-05-31a	10222	1757/6	M		N	one year OD, both pillar crowns royal
			Very common overdate, ten die pairs observed.
(M-05-31u)	-	1757/47	M		S	decade OD
			Not noted in references. Two reverse dies observed. A case could be made that one of the dies (shown) is merely cracked and rusted, giving the appearance of 5/4.
M-05-32	10224	1757	M		S	left pillar crown imperial
		Gilboy notes this variety as common. Four die pairs observed. To left is example of early-style imperial crown.
M-05-33	10230	1758	M		(R)	both pillar crowns royal
	Gilboy notes this variety as rare. No observed examples.
M-05-34	10232	1758	M		C	left pillar crown imperial
	Common date.
M-05-34a	10231	1758/7	M		S	one year OD
	Scarce variety. One obverse die shared with M-05-34.
M-05-35	10241	1759	M		C
	Common date. No listed or observed varieties. From this year onward, imperial crown (see photo insert at M-05-32) tops left pillar in all examples.

Rarity scale used, with the exception of those by Gilboy (shown in paratheses in table)