Spain, which was once the greatest Empire of not only Europe, but the entire globe, has known in its history both dizzying ups and periods of deep economic depression. But for many centuries, the national currency of Spain has shown tremendous stability, provided by the gold of overseas colonies (mainly South American).
The beginning of Spanish rule on the seas and on land was laid by the Reconquista, which ended in 1492. It was she who proclaimed the birth of a new political force in Europe, which was destined to become the protagonist of European history of the sixteenth century, when the newly-made Empire grew and strengthened at the expense of its overseas possessions, tirelessly building up its economic and military potential, and also gaining great political weight.
During this period, the currency of Spain - the real, which remained the main monetary unit of the country from the middle of the fourteenth century until the year 1864, was valued in the vast Old World just like the dollar is now. The military and political power of the Spanish crown kept up the course of the real. Throughout this long historical period, various Spanish currencies were minted. The most famous at that time was the so-called βreal 8β - a coin of eight reais denomination, which appeared at the end of the fifteenth century.
Due to its wide distribution on the American continent and even in Europe, this coin can rightfully be considered the world's first real international (convertible) currency. It is also curious that on the Iberian Peninsula, in the heart of the empire, for several centuries, real coexisted peacefully with other Iberian currencies. For example, with a golden escudo, which was in circulation from the year 1535 to 1833, or with the Moorish coin Moravedi adopted by various Christian kingdoms of the peninsula.
In 1864, the centuries-old currency of Spain, the real was replaced by a new silver escudo. True, this monetary unit did not last long. Already in 1868, the new currency of Spain, which joined the Latin Monetary Union, under the terms of which provided for free circulation of European monetary units in the territory of member countries, became peseta.
And until January 1, 2002, any resident of the country, answering the question of what currency in Spain, could safely call a peseta - with the accession of the peseta on the Spanish financial throne, the rest of the currencies were abolished. The last series of minted metal pesetas were coins in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200 and 500. As for paper banknotes, they were issued in the following denominations: 200, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10000 pesetas.
The exchange rate today in Spain is not much different from the rest of the Eurozone. This is not surprising - after all, this Iberian state is an integral part of the European Community, each member of which has the right to print the combined currency for its own needs. In this case, before the serial number, you must specify your own letter, according to which the banknotes differ. Spain is assigned a letter V. Euro coins are also purely individual for each state. The smallest Spanish coins are made of steel coated with a copper shell.
The coin with a nominal value of two eurocents has a special corrugation on the edge, and the rest are made of a special copper alloy containing aluminum, zinc and tin. Externally, coins of these denominations can be distinguished by the presence of a transverse relief strip. On large denominations of one and two euros, individual patterns are minted, also they have a special small corrugation.