Catalan real

Catalan Real

The Catalan Real (; often called by its diminutive form ralet) was a silver denomination minted in the Principality of Catalonia between the late 15th and early 18th centuries. Although it shared a name with the Castilian real, it belonged to a distinct monetary system — the Carolingian-based lliura–sou–diner system used across the Crown of Aragon — and its weight, fineness and value differed from the Castilian standard until the currency unification enacted under the Nueva Planta decrees in the early 18th century.

Background: the Catalan monetary system

Unlike the Castilian system — based on the maravedí and the silver real — the monetary system of the Principality of Catalonia, like those of Valencia and Majorca, descended from the Carolingian monetary system. Its unit of account was the lliura (pound), divided into 20 sous (shillings) of 12 diners (pence) each — the same structure as the French livre tournois or the English pound, shilling and penny.

The lliura and sou functioned almost exclusively as units of account; for most of the medieval period the only coin actually struck for this system was the billon diner. From 1285, Peter III of Aragon introduced the silver croat in Barcelona, originally valued at 12 diners (one sou). The term real or ral — which in Catalan could also denote the Croat as a reial d'argent ("silver royal") — gradually came to be used, especially from the 17th century, for larger silver multiples valued at two sous (24 diners) and above.

History

Origins (15th–16th centuries)

Silver reals were struck sporadically in the Crown of Aragon from the late 15th century, when Ferdinand II of Aragon issued a new silver coinage in 1493 that broke with the old tern fineness standard and aligned Barcelona coinage with European markets in which the Croat was by then valued at 24 diners. Through the 16th century, the Barcelona mint continued to strike Croats and their fractions with remarkably conservative iconography — coins bearing the portrait of Ferdinand II were still being issued in the 1560s, in the reign of Philip II.

The Reapers' War (1640–1652)

The term ral became the standard name for the large silver denominations of the Reapers' War (Guerra dels Segadors). After the uprising of 1640 and the subsequent rupture with Philip IV of Spain, the Generalitat of the short-lived Catalan Republic — and, from 23 January 1641, the French monarchs Louis XIII and Louis XIV as Counts of Barcelona — ordered a series of silver issues to finance the war.

The most emblematic were large silver pieces of 5 rals (equivalent to 10 sous, about 11–12 g of silver and roughly 30 mm in diameter) and their half, the cinc sous. These coins bore the coat of arms of Barcelona on the reverse and, from 1642 onward, the bust of the French monarch on the obverse with the legend LUDOVICUS XIII (or XIV) D.G. REX FRANCORUM ET COMES BARCINONAE ("Louis XIII/XIV by the Grace of God King of the French and Count of Barcelona").

A notable feature of the period was the radical decentralization of minting. Under the pressure of war, silver pieces of 5 rals were struck not only in Barcelona and Perpignan but also in more than twenty smaller localities — including Agramunt, Balaguer, Banyoles, Besalú, Cervera, Girona, Granollers, Lleida, Manresa, Mataró, Olot, Puigcerdà, Tàrrega, Terrassa, Vic and Vilafranca del Penedès. Because Catalonia's roller presses were limited in capacity, these large silver pieces were struck by hand with hammers, while billon sisens were produced on the roller presses. During the final siege of Barcelona in 1651–1652, the mint struck obsidional coinage: remarked 5-ral pieces circulated at 20 rals, and new pieces were struck at a nominal value of 10 rals with the legend BARCINO CIVITAS OBSESSA ("Besieged City of Barcelona").

War of the Spanish Succession (1705–1714)

The most abundant and best-known Catalan reals are those struck in the name of Archduke Charles of Austria, ruling from Barcelona as Charles III, during the War of the Spanish Succession. From 1707, the Barcelona mint produced silver pieces of 1, 2, 5 and 10 rals on local metric, together with gold issues and copper ardits.

The 2-ral piece is the most studied of these issues. Catalogued theoretical weights are in the order of 6.1 g of silver, but circulating examples typically weigh between 4.7 and 5.6 g at around .900 fineness. Following the Segovia prototypes of Charles II, they carry a crowned monogram on the obverse and the legend CAROLUS III D.G. HISPANIARUM REX on the reverse.

In Catalonia these 2-ral pieces were popularly known as pecetes (from Catalan peça, "piece"), sometimes specified as pecetes carolines in reference to the Archduke. This popular Catalan name, later extended to other 2-ral pieces minted in Barcelona during the Peninsular War (1808–1814) and the First Carlist War, was ultimately adopted as the official name of the Spanish currency when the peseta was introduced on 19 October 1868 at a rate of 5 pesetas to the peso duro. The earliest documented use of the word peseta in print, however, is from 1737, where it is recorded as a colloquial name for the 2-ral provincial — so the War of the Spanish Succession issues are commonly credited as the first coins popularly called peseta, but not as the first documented use of the word.

Charles III (pretender) 2 silver rals coin minted in Barcelona

Bourbon unification and disappearance

After the fall of Barcelona on 11 September 1714, Philip V promulgated the Nueva Planta decrees, which abolished the constitutions and institutions of the Principality of Catalonia and inforced Castilian law. Monetary unification followed in stages:

• In 1717, Philip V provisionally banned the minting of money in Catalonia following the Archduke's defeat; the Barcelona mint struck billon pieces to Castilian types between 1718 and 1720, coordinated with the mints of Segovia, Zaragoza and Valencia.
• A Royal Cédula of 24 September 1718 ordered the collection of all existing vellón coinage and its replacement by a new copper issue of uniform Castilian types.
• The Royal Ordinance of 9 June 1728 set unified weight and fineness standards for silver and gold coinage across all Spanish mints; this was the definitive step in bringing all of Philip V's dominions onto the Castilian metric.

The Croat and its multiples — including what Catalans called the ral — were abolished as distinct currencies by these reforms. The Barcelona mint continued to operate intermittently throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, striking Spanish reals and, from 1836, the short-lived peceta of Isabella II issued by the Junta d'Armament i Defensa del Principat; it was finally closed by the Provisional Government in 1868–1869, with some residual copper minting for Alfonso XII continuing under private concession until 1879.

Metrology and equivalence

The Catalan ral was integrated into the Carolingian-based system of the Crown of Aragon:

• 1 lliura = 20 sous = 240 diners = 10 rals
• 1 sou = 12 diners
• 1 ral = 2 sous = 24 diners
• 1 croat = 12 diners = 1 sou

Because the Catalan ral contained less silver than the Castilian real de plata fuerte — though more than the later real de vellón — it was generally traded at a discount outside the Crown of Aragon.

See also

• Spanish real
• Spanish peseta
• Croat (coin)
• History of Catalonia

Bibliography

• Botet i Sisó, Joaquim (1908–1911). Les monedes catalanes (in català). Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans. Search this book on
• Crusafont i Sabater, Miquel (1996). Història de la moneda catalana (in català). Barcelona: Crítica. Search this book on
• Crusafont i Sabater, Miquel (2016). La moneda catalana de la Guerra dels Segadors (1640–1652): document de sobirania (in català). Societat Catalana d'Estudis Numismàtics. Search this book on
• Ripoll Roig, Eugènia (2008). La Seca o Casa de la Moneda de Barcelona: dels precedents al segle XIX (in català). Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans. Search this book on
• Cano Borrego, Pedro Damián (2016). "La moneda circulante en los reinos de la Corona de Aragón en el siglo XVIII tras la Guerra de Sucesión". Emblemata (in español). 22: 303–333.

External links

• Numismatic Cabinet of Catalonia — Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya
• Coins of the Reapers' War — American Numismatic Society
• The Mint of Barcelona

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