Coins, bills, medals…numismatics is an adventure for collectors that never ends. But among all the options offered by this category of collecting The first are the experts’ favorites. With card payment (or even with your mobile), coins are hardly used anymorebut decades ago they were the most common payment method in our country. Especially before, at the beginning of the century, pesetas gave way to euros.

Although 24 years have passed, the Spaniards still have a whopping 1,575 million euros in banknotes and coins of the old currency in their drawers.

However, in numismatics, the value of coins is not only calculated by their market price, but by their history. In fact, there are other currencies on our borders that are not pesetas but that They have incredible value. And they have been the antiquethe state of conservation and the material with which they are made, which has skyrocketed their price.

One of the most striking examples is that of the “Segovian centén”, the jewel in the crown for coin collectors. This gold coin stands out for its significant size (the largest in Spain and one of the largest in Europe) and for its high value at auction: it can reach two million euros today.

They were minted in the workshops of the Real Ingenio de Segovia (that is why it is called a Segovian centén) during the reigns of Felipe III, Felipe IV and Carlos II and They are equivalent to 100 shields, measure 7.5 centimeters in diameter and weigh approximately 339 grams of gold. They were coined by pressure, introducing the metal between two large dies and subsequently cutting the blank to adjust its weight. Finally, the coin was finished by hand, making it also a masterpiece of goldsmithing.

They are decorated with the Jerusalem cross and the shield of the territories of the Hispanic Monarchy. Another hallmark is that the Latin inscription is engraved on the edge. Phillipus III Dei Gratia (Philip III by the grace of God). However, one of the characteristics that make it a very rare coin is that only two series were made: one in 1609 and another in 1633. According to the Spanish Numismatics catalogue, only four copies were minted in each of them.

Given its great value at the time, some research indicates that it was often used as symbol of recognition and public ostentation. Also a form that monarchs had to reward certain characters prominent members of the nobility at that time.

Its value is so great that its interest has crossed the Spanish borders and collectors from all over the world are searching for this coin. At the moment, experts have only located one coin from the first series, that of 1609 of Philip III and It came out at an auction by the Áureo and Calicó house for the chilling figure of 800,000 euros. It was a Swiss who was willing to give the final price of 944,000 euros. Today, this price has multiplied and the piece is valued at around two million euros.

Of Philip IV there is knowledge that only hundreds were minted in 1623 (a single piece) and in 1633. This last date is the least rare, with four copies and three of them in private hands. Of those three, one was auctioned in the same place with a starting price of 500,000 euros. Another of them is in the National Archaeological Museum of Spain in Madrid.

Don’t get your hopes up

Although finding a Segovian cent in our attic It’s practically impossibleYes, there are some old coins that continue to be a true treasure in the world of collecting and for which you can pay real fortunes. As indicated on the Áureo and Calicó websitethere are several antecedents of hundreds, such as the big double or double of ten doubles of Fernando VI, the 10 and 20 doubles of John II, the double of 50 Enriques or the 50 excellent of the Catholic Monarchs. All of them are incredibly rare pieces, with a good part of them being in private hands.

In the case of having a specimen that is suspected of having a certain historical value, the best and most advisable thing is to go to an expert to find out its value. It must be taken into account that pricing may vary and that it is the collectors (and buyers), those who are willing to invest in them, who in the end give value to the coins due to their unusual characteristics.

At techopiniones we have previously commented how the figures reported in the texts are often exaggerated and how the media has been publishing exaggerated news for years about the value of common and current currencies, especially pesetas.

Image | Numismatic Blog / National Archaeological Museum

In techopiniones | Sorry, you don’t have a fortune of thousands of euros in the form of old pesetas in your drawer.

*An earlier version of this article was published in December 2023