2 Reales - Charles V Pretender

The First Carlist War, between supporters of Carlos María Isidro and Isabella II, led to the minting of a series of undeniably rare coins featuring the second of the Carlos brothers: two mints produced them (Berga and Segovia), and four denominations were minted (6 cuartos and 8 maravedíes in copper, and 1 and 2 reales in silver). This is the scarce and select monetary production of the brother of Ferdinand VII.

These coins have an essentially symbolic and propagandistic value rather than actual monetary value, since the war was actually financed by the issuance of 20 million pesos fuertes in Royal Bonds (which were to be repaid within eight years of the king's entry into Madrid, something that, as is well known, never happened). 

The minting of Segovia coins can be understood in light of the entry of Zaratiegui's troops into Segovia on August 3, 1837. From the very first moment, they had a clear and primary objective: the Segovia Mint. The Segovian coins of Charles V are especially rare because the troops only occupied the city for ten days (the real objective was Madrid, and Segovia was merely a transit point). During this time, according to various sources, they minted between eight and ten thousand reales in 8-maravedí coins using an old die that reminds us of someone: indeed, it is Ferdinand VII with a mustache.