His successor, however, Charles III. (1759-88) effected profound reforms. By the ordinance of 29th May 1772 he accomplished a complete recoinage of the Spanish money. The standards he established were—
| Quilates. | Granos. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Of gold | Escudos (oro nacional) | 21 | 2 1⁄2 |
| " | Veintenes (oro provincial) | 21 | 1 1⁄2 |
| Dineros. | Granos. | ||
| Of silver | (plata nacional or gruesa) | 10 | 20 |
| " | (plata provincial or menuda) | 9 | 18 |
being a lowering per cent, of standard as follows:—
| Oro | nacional | 1.31 |
| " | provincial | 2.84 |
| Plata | nacional | 1.59 |
| " | provincial | 2.49 |
The bearing of this change on the question of the ratio at large in Europe has been already referred to. It was again and still further for the protection of gold that the seigniorage was increased to 7.48 per cent. by the law of 17th July 1779. The later system established in 1786 (see Tables postea) has a similar bearing.
His son, Charles IV. (1789-1808), made no alteration in this latter system of Charles III.
Under Ferdinand VII. (1808-32) currency was given (1813-1823) to French gold and silver monies on a certain footing, and the seigniorage on the coins was reduced. Both under Ferdinand, however, and under his successor, Isabella II. (1832-61), this latter regulation proved ineffectual in attracting merchants to bring the metals to the Mint to be coined; and under the circumstances the circulation of French Napoleons was considered a benefit. A profound alteration was projected by the two laws of 1834; the
first of which proposed to lower the equivalence of the real to 32 from 34 maravedis, and the standard of silver to 10 dineros 12 granos (=.875), and the second, to prevent the circulation of French money. This scheme was intentionally bimetallic. It failed, however, of accomplishment, and the monetary system remained as before up to 1847.
By the decree of 31st May 1847—(1) the decimal division of the real was adopted; (2) the weight of the real was established at 25 granos and standard at .900; (3) a new gold coin of 100 reals of the weight of 161 1⁄2 granos of the same alloy was introduced.
This system was of course a reproduction of that of France; but in the following year it underwent slight alteration, as already related. By the law of 1st January 1859 the French metrical system was adopted in its entirety by Spain, and since 1st January 1876 Spain reckons in pesetas (representing the French franc) and centesimos (representing the French centime)—100 centesimos = 1 peseta. The new gold coins are pieces of 5, 10, 20, and other multiples of the peseta. The peseta (5 grms. silver, .835 fine) is token money, but the 5-peseta pieces (25 grms. silver, .900 fine) are legal tender.