Alfonso XII 25 Pesetas
1882(82) MSM

Owner Comments:

Mintage: 413,741.
Type 2: "con barba" ("with beard"). Portrait of Alfonso XII at age 23. Engraved by Gregorio Sellán.
MSM = Morejón, Sala, Mendoza.

Uncommon date, few survive.

Beginning in 1881 and continuing through the 1880s, Spain's government gold reserves dropped precipitously. By 1883 the Bank of Spain suspended convertibility of currency into gold. Lack of gold reserves and suspension of convertibility account for the drastic curtailment of gold coinage after 1881. Spain minted 34 million Alfonsinas in the six years from 1876 through 1881 and only 3 million in the five years from 1882 through 1886. No gold coins were minted in 1887 and 1888.

A variety of G25P 1882(82) MSM is the 1882/1 overdate. You can see an example of that variety in my Custom Set titled "Spain Gold 25 Pesetas Overdates (1882/1, 1883/2)."