Portugal and Spain.
The coinage of Portugal and Spain in the fifteenth century, held greater sway than that of other countries. Of their coins, there are many fine specimens in the Mint Cabinet. The “joe and half-joe[12]” of Portugal are known of all nations, while the Spanish dollar, with its pretentious two globes under a crown, did not claim too much, and only tells the almost limitless rule of the great Philip. The coins of these nations became, through their possessions in the New World, the circulating medium of that portion of the earth. Spanish and Mexican dollars were almost synonymous, while the real and joe of South America was patterned after that of Portugal, which fact can be learned in this Cabinet. As nations decay it will be seen their coins become inevitably less trustworthy; even a glance at the cases marked “Portugal,” “Spain,” will give this lesson. In the Mexican collection there are issues which seem to contradict this assertion, for the “Mexican dollar” has, for generations, had a position in the monetary world of almost unchallenged credit, yet not by reason of the recognition given Mexico, but because of the United States using it so extensively; for, until the introduction of the “trade dollar,” this country had no currency that would meet the demand of the Oriental market.