Talk:Gibraltarian real

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Apart from the three coins listed and the fact that 24 quarts = 1 real (all gleaned from Krause-Mischler), I know nothing more about this currency. Was the real equal to the Spanish real (de plata or de vellon)? What was the exchange rate to sterling?
Dove1950 14:34, 21 December 2005 (UTC)

I think I may have found the answer to my own question. Two facts: the 1 quart shares its obverse with the Jersey 1/52 shilling [1], i.e., the quart is essentially farthing sized, and the Spanish dollar or 8 reales coin circulated at four shillings in Jamaica and Mauritus (see Jamaican pound and Mauritian dollar). Four shillings divided by eight gives 1 real = 6 pence and 1/24 real = 1 farthing. This strongly suggests that the quart was, in fact, simply a Gibraltese farthing and that the relationship to the real was based on what the British government decreed the Spanish dollar to be worth in sterling. The question which now remains is, can anyone back up this hypothesis?
Dove1950 12:22, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] More info

Hi, I'm from Gibraltar and I collect some of these coins. I know that 1 quart was equal to a quarter of a Spanish real (hence the name quarto or quart) and ¹/24 of a Gibraltarian real. Halves and doubles were also struck, and were equal to a farthing and a penny respectively. --Chris Buttigieg 21:19, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

Nice to see someone taking an interest. Which Spanish real do you mean? The real de plata or the real de vellon? Also, where do you get the equivalency with sterling from? As I wrote above, the quart appears to match the size of the farthing rather than the halfpenny. One more thing, you mention the "Gibralar real". I know that's the title of this article but do you have any evindence for the existence of this unit, either in acounting or in actual money form? I can only find it refered to in relation to the quart.
Dove1950 15:33, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

I believe that copper quartos were struck in the early 19th century in Barcelona and Catalonia (during the French occupation) and this same denomination was also used as from 1802 in Gibraltar as tokens (i.e. quartos) It was later abbreviated to quart in 1842. I remember reading from in an old coin catalogue that 1 quart was equal to a quarter of a Spanish real, however I am unaware of which real this was, either plata or vellon. I can pressume that it might be the real de vellon in view of the fact that this real was introduced in 1808. However on the other hand merchant tokens first started appearing in 1802 which is somewhat contradictory. The 1 quart coin is identical in size to a british farthing, yet I think it should be equal a halfpenny. I thought that it was known as the 'Gibraltarian real' when I saw the title of the article, I hadn't heard the name before. I've tried to look into this topic in books, internet etc but there's hardly any information. I checked in the Garrison Library in Gib (the place where I expected to be most information), but there didn't seem to be anything regarding coinage specifically in Gibraltar. Maybe I should check out any books about merchants in the early 19th century. Many thanks, --Chris Buttigieg 23:15, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

Damn, I've been waiting for someone to go to the Gibraltar records in the hope that they'd find the answer. A big thank you for trying that, though. The Catalan quarto was worth one sixth of a real de vellon in Catalunya, not a quarter (it was a quarter sueldo, one twenty-fourth of a peseta). The name "Gibraltarian real" comes from a note in the "Standard Catalog of World Coins" by Krause & Mishler that there were 24 quartos to the real (again without stating which real). If your numbers are right, it values the real de plata at 5 pence sterling, which is close to the value used elswhere of 6 pence. The only question is why a coin the same size as a farthing would circulate as a halfpenny in Gibraltar?
Dove1950 21:58, 5 November 2006 (UTC)