History·29 March 2026·4 min read
The peso — heir of the "piece of eight"
The Mexican peso descends directly from the famous Spanish silver real that was the first truly global coin.
The Mexican peso is the direct heir of the "piece of eight" — the Spanish silver real struck from American silver, which circulated from the Americas to China and underpinned the dollar.
The coin that made globalization
For centuries, Mexican silver was the money of world trade. Even the "$" sign derives, by some theories, from the Spanish peso. A truly historic coin.
