Portrait Series

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Portrait series. Starting in 1772, the Bourbon rulers introduced silver coins bearing the bust portraits of such monarchs as Corulos III, Carolus IV and Ferdin VII. Some Chinese however, felt it necessary to stamp their mark to attest to the degree and quality of the coin, thus "chopmarked" the coin. In 1832 the new counterstamp was in the form of a small circular depression within which was a crown of pearls and the initials F. 7?, for King Ferdinand VII. This counter- mark was changed to Y. " upon the accession of Ferdinand's daughter Queen Isabella II in 1834. The counterstamping was stopped by an edict on March 31, 1837, when Spain began to recognize her former Latin American colonies as independent states.