Bust or Portrait Gold Coinage of Charles III

by A. F. Pradeau

The gold coinage of this monarch consists of three main types:

First type. Coins of 1760 and 1761—The obverse presents a young thin face, long pointed nose, neck uncovered, and bust armored and mantled; the legend in large letters CAROLVS . I l l . D . G . HISPAN . ETIND . REX . 1760. The reverse is similar in every respect to the fourth type of Ferdinand VI. There are two varieties of the obverse; on one, the Golden Fleece is suspended from a ribbon and hangs just below the neck; on the other, the Fleece is suspended from a chain and separates the REX from the date. On the reverse the collar of theOrder of the Golden Fleece appears only on the onzas.

Second type. Coins of 1762 to 1771. The obverse: the bust is larger and heavily draped. The neck is covered. The toison d'or hangs on the breast. The nose is pointed and appears more pronounced because of a receding forehead. The peruke shows individual curls. The lettering of the inscription is smaller and the name is spelled CAROLUS. The upper portion of the head projects into the margin and separates the legend into right and left parts. The reverse presents four main variations:

1. The shape of the coat of arms is different. The arrangement of the component parts is changed, and the arms of Castile and Leon appear in the center.
2. The crown is placed higher.
3. The mint mark is on the left of the Fleece and the assayers' initials are to the right of it.
4. The legend reads: IN.UTROQ.FELIX.AUSPICE.DEO. (With God's guidance [one is] happy in each [place].)

While apparently the old dies continued in use until at least 1783, about 1763 some of the smaller gold coins began having the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece surrounding the coat of arms, and when this occurred, the full coat of arms appeared.

By secret order issued 18 March 1771, the fineness of the gold coinage was reduced from twenty-two to twenty-one karats, equivalent to .875 fine.

Third type. During 1772 the type was again changed. The obverse shows the portrait of the king, more mature, receding forehead, and prominent rounded nose. The legend around the margin reads: CAROL . I l l . D . G . HISP . ET . IND . R . and the date.. The reverse differs from the previous type in three particulars:

1. The shape of the coat of arms.
2. The value of the coin (8, 4, 2 or 1) in Arabic numerals is placed to the left of the shield; the capital letter S is on the right.
3. The mint mark is indicated by tiny letters, about a third smaller than the rest of the inscription. At times the mint mark and assayers' initials face inwardly.

One escudo 

KM-116 1E 1761/0 Mo MM (Heritage auction 3041, August 2015, lot 31140)

KM-118.1 

KM-118.2 1E 1773 Mo FM ((Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection, 15 April 2005, lot 3166)

This type, the third showing the bust of Charles III, was struck 1773-88 This type comes in two varieties; "inverted mintmark" and "upright mintmark". The inverted mintmark variety prevailed 1773-1788; the upright mintmark appeared 1772-73 and 1788 only. This marks the second date of the fineness being lowered from .901 to .875 gold

KM-118.2a 1E 1786 Mo FM (Heritage auction 3041, August 2015, lot 31166)

Two escudos 

KM-130.1 

KM-110.2 

KM-130.2a

Four escudos 

KM-142.1 

KM-142.2 4E 1773 Mo FM (Ponterio NYINC Auction , 7 January 2011, lot 117)

KM-142.2a

Eight escudos 

KM-154 8E 1761 Mo MM (Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection, 15 April 2005, lot 3144)

KM-156.1 8E 1772 Mo FM (Stack’s Bowers auction, 18 April 2007, lot 5746)

KM-156.2 8E 1773 Mo FM (Stack’s Bowers auction, 16 January 2021, lot 21066)

The rarer of the two sub-types, having the inverted mintmark. Exceptional quality for this scarcer transitional issue, which began the practice of placing the mintmark to point towards the rim rather than into the central designs.

KM-156.2a