Note III-8 — Chapter III · DISCOVERY OF DARIEN.

The early chroniclers make their reckonings of values under different names at different times. Thus during the discoveries of Columbus we hear of little else but maravedís; then the peso de oro takes the lead, together with the castellano; all along marco and ducado being occasionally used. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, and before and after, Spanish values were reckoned from a mark of silver, which was the standard. A mark was half a pound either of gold or silver. The gold mark was divided into fifty castellanos; the silver mark into eight ounces. In the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the mark was divided by law into 65 reales de vellon of 34 maravedís each, making 2210 maravedís in a mark. To show how changeable were the values of subsidiary Spanish coins, and how utterly impossible it is accurately and at all times to determine by their names the amount of metal they represent, it is only necessary to state that in the reign of Alfonso XI., 1312-1350, there were 125 maravedís to the mark, while in the reign of Ferdinand VII., 1808-1833, a mark was divided into 5440 maravedís. In Spanish America a real is one eighth of a peso, and equal to 2½ reales de vellon. The peso contains one ounce of silver; it was formerly called peso de ocho reales de plata, whence came the term pieces of eight, a vulgarism at one time in vogue among the merchants and buccaneers in the West Indies. This coin is designated more particularly as peso fuerte, or peso duro, to distinguish it from peso sencillo, equivalent in value to four fifths of the former. The mutilator of Herrera translates pesos de oro as pieces of eight, in which as in other things he is about as far as possible wrong. The castellano, the one fiftieth of the golden mark, in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, was equivalent to 490 maravedís of that day. The peso de oro, according to Oviedo, was exactly equivalent to the castellano, and either was one third greater than the ducado, or ducat. The doblon, the popular name for the excelente, was first struck by Ferdinand and Isabella as a gold coin of the weight of two castellanos. The modern doubloon is an ounce of coined gold, and is worth 16 pesos fuertes. Reduced to United States currency the peso fuerte, as slightly alloyed bullion, is in weight nearly enough equivalent to one dollar. Therefore a mark of silver is equal to eight dollars; a piece of eight, equal to one peso, which equals one dollar; a real de vellon, five cents; a Spanish-American real, 12½ cents; a maravedí, 100/276 of a cent; a castellano, or peso de oro, $2.56; a doubloon, $5.14; a ducat, $1.92; a mark of gold, $128, assuming the United States alloy. The fact that a castellano was equivalent to only 490 maravedís shows the exceedingly high value of silver as compared with gold at the period in question. The modern ounce, or doubloon, is valued at about $16. As to the relative purchasing power of the precious metals at different times during the past four centuries economists differ. The returns brought by the first discoverers began the depreciation, which was rapidly accelerated by the successive conquests, notably of Mexico and Peru. Any one may estimate; no one can determine with exactness. Robertson, Prescott, and other writers make but guess-work of it (see Hist. America, and Conq. Mexico, passim) when they attempt to measure the uncertain and widely diversified denominations of centuries ago by the current coin of to-day.