1792 - Spanish Dubloon Counterfeit

Dated 1792 and inscribed CAROL IIII D.G.HISP.ET IND.R. on obverse and .IN.UTRO.FELIX. .AUSPICE.DEO. 8 S on reverse. This is an imitation of a Spanish 'gold dubloon' you hear about in stories of the early Americas. Some replicas (counterfeits) you see have the word COPY inscribed, others do not. They are all imitations of the real thing. Spain had colonized much of the New World and minted coinage in gold and silver in her many colonies. Gold coins were called escudos and silver coins were called reales, but these coins acquired many nicknames. Escudos were dubloons and 8 reales coins were called pieces of 8.
- I have had this since the early 1970's, roughly 1972. - 1 1/4" diameter.
Analyzing the inscriptions is interesting. CAROL is Charles, King of Spain. Charles IV reigned from 1788 to 1808, preceded by Charles III from 1759 to 1788. D G stands for Dei Gratia, by the Grace of God, and HISP ET IND means of Spain and the Indies. The phrase AUSPICE DEO IN UTRO FELIX translates roughly to under God's will we will happily prosper.