Greek contacts with the Iberian Peninsula were known as early as the seventh century B. C.  Homer's Odyssey mentions Spain and Phoenician vessels may well have arrived centuries earlier.  From the North, Celtic peoples moved into Spain about 900 B. C., settling in the northern part of the country.  Later, about 600 B. C., Greeks landed in Spain and established trading posts along the east coast.  It took the Romans almost two centuries to conquer the freedom-loving Spanish tribes and to create a Roman province called Hispania from which Spain's present name, Espana, is derived.

     The Romans used Spain as a military base during their North African wars with Carthage.  Later, Rome had to fight many wars against the fierce and independent Ibero-Celtic tribes.  Famous Roman generals, such as Cornelius Scipio Africanus, Cn. Pompeius, and emperors such as Augustus, Tiberius, and Hadrian commanded their troops in battle to subdue the belligerent tribes.  Roman coins record some of these events.
 

     The Visigoths were one of the Germanic tribes that swept across the western Roman Empire to invade and conquer Spain by A. D. 573.  The Christian Visigoths set up a monarchy in Spain, trying to emulate the civilization of the Eastern Roman Empire.  Byzantine gold coins such as the trientes and the solidi were copied by the Visigothic kings.  The rule of the Visigoths ended in A. D. 711 when the Moors from northern Africa invaded Spain.
 

     The Moors invaded Spain from northern Africa in A. D. 711 and conquered most of it by A. D. 718.  Only the narrow mountainous region across northern Spain remained free of Moorish rule.  At Cordova, the conquerors established the Emirate of the Umayyads, which became a great commercial and cultural center during the reign of  Abd al-Rahman III, A. D. 912-961.  The Moors were Muslims, followers of the Islamic faith.  Many of the Spanish people became Muslims as a result of Moorish rule.  Separatist movements within the Spanish Umayyad caliphate led to its fragmentation into local dynasties.  These small dynasties were eventually destroyed by the Almoravids (1056-1147), who in their turn were destroyed by the Muwahhids (1130-1269) of North Africa.  The Muwahhids established a realm centered on Seville in spain and Fez in Morocco.  During the turn of the first millennium, the Christian kingdoms began to expand, pushing the Moors southward.
 

     Following the Moorish conquest, only scattered groups of Visigoths and other Christians remained independent in far northern Spain.  These groups formed a series of kingdoms that extended from Spain's northwest coast to the Mediterranean Sea.  The Christian Reconquest started with the battle at Covadonga, in A. D. 718, against the Moors.  It was won by Pelayo, King of Asturias.  In 780 Charlemagne (768-814) undertook an expedition to Saragossa, where the battle of Roncesvalles took place.  It was here that the famous Roland, a nephew of Charlemagne and a lord of his realm, met his death.
     Castile, in north-central Spain, became the strongest among the growing Christian kingdoms.  The Castilian hero, El Cid -- Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar -- became the champion of the Christian cause.  By 1276, the Moorish territory in Spain had been reduced to the kingdom of Granada (Nasrids), in the south.  The Christian kingdoms of Aragon, Navarre, and Castile controlled the rest of what is now Spain.  Aragon ruled most of eastern Spain and the Balearic Islands.  Castile remained Spain's largest and most powerful kingdom throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
     The most frequent coin denomination was the dinero, the counterpart of the Carolingian denier, or penny. It is interesting that the first known public banks of deposit were founded in Spain at that time: in 1401 in Barcelona, and in 1407 in Valencia.

     The marriage in 1469 of Ferdinand II of Aragon with Isabella, heiress to the crown of Castile, laid the foundations of a united Spanish kingdom.  The determined policies of the two monarchs freed Spain of Moorish domination and built their country into a stronghold of Christianity.  Another fateful decision of the "Catholic Majesties" -- to help an unknown Italian navigator, Christopher Columbus, realize his dreams and sail toward unknown lands -- opened the way to the wealth of the New World.
     Their grandson and successor, Charles I, later known as Charles V, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, continued and developed their policies, securing Spain the uncontested leadership in the world.
 

     In the last quarter of the fifteenth century, Europe's knowledge of the world grew with almost incredible rapidity.  The main thrust of exploration had come from Portugal, but Spain was quick to follow.  In 1492, Ferdinand II and Isabella I helped the Italian navigator, Christopher Columbus, to sail in search of the New World.  On his trail followed many others: in 1499-1500, Vincent Yanez Pinzon discovered the northeast coast of South America; in 1513, Ponce de Leon discovered Florida, and Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama toward the Pacific Ocean.  From 1519 to 1521, Hernando Cortes explored and conquered the interior of Mexico, while between 1531 and 1535, Pizarro subdued the  Incas of Peru.  During the next fifty years, these "conquistadores," attracted by the enormous wealth in precious metals, established Spain's colonial empire.  Under a system called mita, the natives were used to mine precious metals.  Once a year two fleets would form under the protection of warships and sail to the West Indies, where they would separate, one proceeding to Vera Cruz, and the other to Porto Bello, from where they sailed home to Seville.

     The first coins for the New World were struck during Charles I's and Johanna's rule.  Santo Domingo produced from 1542 to 1595 the first copper two-and-four maravedis.  In 1535 a royal decree ordered the installation of the first mint in the western hemisphere at Mexico City.  Silver one, two and four real pieces bearing the pillars of Hercules were struck there.  The first gold coins produced in the new world were struck in either Cartagena or Bogota in 1622.

    The Lima Mint (1568-1824): Lima, the "City of Kings" founded by Pizarro, was surrounded by rich mines. It became the capital of the Vice-royalty of Peru which embraced almost all Spanish possessions in South America. Its mint opened in 1568; later it also struck gold.

     The Potosi Mint (1575-1821): This mint struck the largest numbers of silver coins in the whole of South America.  Potosi, at an altitude of 13000 feet, was one of the richest areas in silver.

    Later, other mints were established at Santa Fe de Bogota (1622-1820); Cuzco, the old Inca capital (1698-1824); Guatemala City (1733-1821); and Santiago de Chile (1749-1817).

     Ferdinand II (1452-1516) was the son John II of Aragon; he became King of Sicily in 1468, one year before marrying Isabella, daughter of King John II of Castile.  In 1474 when Isabella became queen of Castile, Ferdinand was made co-ruler of the united Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon.  This couple was destined to change dramatically the fate of Spain.  The fight against the infidel Moors was their main goal.  In 1480 the Inquisition was founded as an important weapon against the enemies of Catholic faith.  Twelve years later, in 1492, the final war against the Moors ended with the conquest of Granada.  Columbus's expeditions to the New World in the same year opened the doors to uncounted riches and to a vast colonial empire.  In 1503, Ferdinand became King of Naples, a rule he shared with Isabella up to her death in 1504.  Ferdinand continued to rule in Spain up to 1516, mainly as regent for his daughter Johanna (1506-1515).  The "Tragmatica" of Medina del Campo in 1597 established the new monetary system of the unified Spain with the gold excelente de la Granada (ca. 3.40 gr.), the silver real (3.24 gr.), and silver duro of 8 reales (25.92 gr.), and the billon blanco.
 
 

     After Isabella's death, her daughter Johanna (Spanish, Juana) ruled up to 1506, together with her husband, Philip, Archduke of Austria.  His death in 1506 affected Johanna so badly that she lost her mind.  She lived the rest of her life, up to 1555, in the shadows of madness in Tordesillas, while her father re-assumed power in Spain.  After Ferdinand's death in 1516, Johanna's son, Charles, ruled Spain up to 1556 as Charles I.  He is better known in history as Charles V, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.  In Spain he repressed a revolt in Castile, but most importantly, he extended Spain's empire in the New World.  Through the conquests of Mexico by Cortes, 1519-1521, and Peru by Pizzaro, 1531-1535, most of Central and South America became Spanish.
 

     Charles, born to Philip of Burgundy, and Johanna in 1500, was destined to be one of the most powerful rulers of the world.  At his father's death in 1506, he became Duke of Burgundy and ruler of the Netherlands.  In 1516, when his grandfather Ferdinand died, he became King of the Two Sicilies and of Spain.  In 1520 he was crowned as Charles V, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.  He ruled a world empire, over which "the sun never set," with much prudence.  Although basically tolerant, he saw with concern the ascent of Protestantism and the long religious battle of the German states against Luther.  Through the "Confession" at Augsburg, in 1555, he brought peace in the German lands.  Charles imposed his hegemony in Europe after a long power struggle against France; he also tried to stop the advance of the Turks in Europe.  After these accomplishments and a long rule, he decided to retire.  He split his vast empire between his son Philip and his brother Ferdinand, and relinquished the rule in Naples in 1554 and that of the Netherlands in 1555.  He abdicated his throne in Spain in 1556 in favor of Philip II, and that of the Holy Roman Empire in favor of Ferdinand.  In 1557 Charles V retired to a Spanish monastery in Yuste, where he died the next year.
 
 
 

     Philip II (1556-1598) inherited from his father, Charles V, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the Duchy of Milan in Italy, Brabant and the possessions in the Netherlands, and the Spanish kingdom and its overseas colonial empire.  By then the Spanish empire had reached its peak.  Nevertheless, Philip II, a severe and autocratic person, had a long and troubled reign.  Under his intolerant rule, the freedom loving Dutch began a long and bitter struggle for freedom. Because of England's support for the Protestant Netherlands, Philip, who had been married, 1554 to 1558, to Mary Tudor, Queen of England (1553-58), decided to attack England.  His "invincible Armada" suffered in 1588 a crushing defeat in the waters of the English Channel.  The destruction of the Armada marked the beginning of a slow but steady downfall of Spain's prestige and power.
     During the reigns of Philip II's successors, his son Philip III (1598-1621), and his grandson Philip IV (1621-1665), Spain slumped from her former dominance and entered a long struggle for survival as a world power.  Spain suffered also reverse on the battlefields with grave consequences: the loss of Portugal, of the Netherlands and the northern provinces of Spain; and the rebellion in Catalonia and Naples.  Neither Philip III nor Philip IV was competent to give the kind of clear direction of which Philip II in his prime had been capable. The fate of Spain was increasingly tied to the progress of its colonial empire in America.
     One result of the massive infusion of precious metals from the New World into Spain of that period was an unbelievable increase in prices which eventually spread throughout Europe.  During this period Spain produced highly interesting coins.  The large multiple silver real pieces of 100 or 500 reales, issued in Saragossa during the reigns of Philip III and Philip IV, and the remarkable portrait coins of Philip II struck in his Italian possessions, deserve special mention.
 

     The rule of the last Hapsburg on the Spanish throne, Charles II (1665-1700) was particularly unfortunate. On top of natural calamities, Spain experienced its worst monetary crisis of the century with an unparalleled shortage of money.  A contemporary witness wrote that "the great bankruptcy. . .has left the greater part of the countryside uncultivated. . .and to crown all, the plague continues for its seventh year."  After Charles's death, the new ruling dynasty of the French Bourbons met strong opposition in the country.  Another Charles, a Hapsburg, was put forth as a candidate for the throne and it took over thirteen years of war to establish the Bourbon dynasty as the ruling power in Spain.  Philip V (1700-1746), the first Bourbon on the Spanish throne, ruled over a territorially diminished country.  Spain had lost all its possessions in Europe, plus Gibraltar and Minorca.  During the 1700s the Bourbon kings, especially Charles III (1759-1788), carried out many beneficial reforms: taxes were lowered and roads and other public works were built.  The economy took an upward turn until Napoleon's intervention upset Spain's destinies again.  Ferdinand VII (1808-1833) was taken prisoner to France and forced to cede the throne of Spain to Joseph Bonaparte (1808-1813), Napoleon's brother.  The Spanish people resisted the French occupation, striking back in continuous "guerilla" battles.  In 1814 France was driven from Spain and Ferdinand VII returned to his homeland.  His absolutist reign up to 1833 brought few blessings to Spain.  It lost most of its colonial empire in Central and South America in 1821-22.
   
               The Spanish coinage of this period underwent drastic changes, introducing the portrait of the ruling sovereign on the obverse of its coinage.  The French occupation during the Peninsular War produced very interesting necessity pieces struck in Spanish cities under French occupation -- Gerona, Tarragona, Lerida, and others.
 

     Ferdinand VII's autocratic regime brought a new century of unrest and revolutions for Spain.  After his death in 1833, his daughter Isabella II took the throne, in accordance with his law permitting women to rule in Spain.      Isabella II (1833-1868): Three years old when she became queen of Spain, she ruled up to 1845 under the regency of her mother.  During her first years, Spain was again involved in a civil war started by Isabella's uncle, Don Carlos, her contender for the throne of Spain, 1833-39.  Isabella's reign was marred by insurrection and unrest caused by her autocratic rule.  In 1868 a revolution forced her to abdicate in favor of her son, Alfonso XII.

     Provisional Government (1868-1871): The discontent against Isabella caused a military mutiny which grew into a revolution against the dynasty.  Since the Cortes voted for the continuation of the monarchy, a search for a new king began.  From among several candidates, Prince Amadeo of Savoy, son of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, finally accepted in 1870.
     Amadeus I (Span. Amedeo) (1870-1873): His rule was a period of turmoil and confusion between the battling factions of the royalists and republicans.  In 1872 a new contender arose in the Bourbon Don Carlos; the king abdicated in 1873.

     Charles VII, Pretender (1872-1876): Don Carlos Dolores de Bourbon, a nephew of another Don Carlos, pretender to the throne of Spain, claimed in 1872 his rights to the succession.  He entered Spain in 1873 and waged a continuous war up to 1876, when his forces were defeated and he fled to France.

     Alfonso XII (1874-1883): Isabella's son, Alfonso XII, was Spain's new hope for peace and unity.  The king was 17 years old when he undertook his difficult task.  During his short rule peace was reestablished, and the Carlist opposition suppressed.  The king died in 1885, leaving two daughters; six months later a posthumous son, Alfonso XIII, was born.

     The well-intentioned and conciliatory rule of the two Alfonsos, XII and XIII, nevertheless brought little progress.  Spain lost its last overseas possessions, and civil unrest culminated in the 1930s in one of the bloodiest civil wars in modern times.  The victory of the Nationalists gave General Francisco Franco the power to rule Spain up to his death in 1975, and to reestablish the monarchy in Spain.

    Alfonso XIII (1886-1931): The posthumous son of Alfonso XII, he ruled up to 1902 under the regency of his mother.  The coinage depicts, in a series of portraits, the growth of the king from a bay to a young monarch. Although some beneficial changes were undertaken, Spain sustained many losses.  The Spanish-American War with the United States, 1898, put an end to Spain's rule in the New World.  It lost Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. Alfonso was forced to abdicate in 1931, and the Second Republic was proclaimed. 

    The Second Republic (1931-1936): The Cortes gave Spain a new constitution which proclaimed a "democratic republic of workers of all classes."  A Left-wing Government ruled in 1931-33, followed by a Center-Right Government from 1933 to 1935.  New elections established the Popular Front in 1936.

    The Civil War (1936-1939): Arrests and mutinies led to the outbreak of the Civil War.  The Republicans (or Loyalist) Government had to fight the insurgents (or Nationalists) under General Francisco Franco, who emerged victorious.  On October 1, 1936, General Franco -- El Caudillo -- assumed the leadership of nationalist Spain; on March 18, 1939, the Civil War was over.

    Francisco Franco (1939-1975): With the recognition of Great Britain, France and the United States in the spring of 1939, the Franco government officially took over the rule of Spain.

    King Juan Carlos I (1975-   ): General Franco published in 1974 the Law of Succession by which Spain constituted itself a kingdom.  Franco declared as his successor the 16 year old Infante Don Juan Carlos, grandson of Alfonso XIII.  At the death of General Franco in 1975, Juan Carlos ascended the throne as King of Spain.