Viceroyalty of New Spain, Philip V (1724-1746), Real de a ocho (Peso) 1738, Mexico City

"VTRAQUE VNUM" (Together they are one), this inscription reflected the worldwide power of the Spanish crown as well as the motif on the coin: the two columns of Heracles enclose the world hemispheres and connect the Old World with the New. A Spanish crown holds the two hemispheres together.

Such pieces of 8 reales (Spanish: real de a ochos, so-called pesos) depicting the pillars of Heracles were minted in Mexico from local silver ores for the first time in 1732. They rapidly became an internationally accepted currency. After 1750, other Spanish-American mints such as Lima, Santa Fé and Potosí thus changed their motifs and started minting pesos as well.

Most of the coins minted in the Spanish colonies were made from silver, and only about 4 per cent were gold or bronze coins. In the years between 1537 and 1888, the Mexican mints struck approximately about 3 billion pesos. These coins, known as Spanish milled dollars, or – referring to their picture – as pillar dollars, circulated in North America until the middle of the 19th century.