Owner Comments:
From the first coin minted in 1869 to the last coin minted in 2001, the peseta has proved to be a stable monetary unit for Spain’s economy. Unlike the peseta, governments in Spain have come and gone, many by means of violence. This was especially true in 1939 as the Second Republic fell to nationalist forces under the command of Francisco Franco at the end of the Spanish Civil War. Lastly, in the waning years of the Franco government and the fledging years of Juan Carlos I's constitutional monarchy it appears that like the peseta, Spain herself was at last politically stable.
During his reign, Francisco Franco had secured the right to name his successor. That successor from the House of Bourbon was Juan Carlos I. Unbeknownst to Franco, Juan Carlos I was secretly working with Democratic supporters to establish a democracy under a constitutional monarchy. Upon the death of Francisco Franco in 1975, Juan Carlos I with broad public support began to dismantle the Franco regime and institute democratic reforms. Since its institution, Spain’s democratic constitutional monarchy has survived a coup attempt and a number of political scandals and challenges.
With a stable government and a stable currency, Spain minted its final pesetas in 2001 and transitioned to the euro as their national currency in 2002. To commemorate this event Spain issued a 100 peseta and silver 2000 peseta coin using pretty much the same obverse designs as the 1869 peseta. You can still purchase the 2001 coins as a set in specially made and serialized mint packaging. Below is the translated text from that packaging.
The National Coin and Stamp Factory - The Royal Mint wants to pay tribute to the peseta at its final farewell. For this reason, we have made this last issue of the 100 pesetas coin as well as the traditional 2000 silver pesetas coin. Both pieces have a commemorative reverse of this farewell in which the figure of "Hispania," allegorical image of our country appears as it was shown in the first emission of peseta as a national monetary unit in 1869.