Spanish Colonial Pillar Dollars (1732-1772)

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After the Spanish colonial cobs, Pillar Dollar was one of the major foreign coins which circulated in China and dominated the market. It and its successor-Portrait Dollar illustrated with the bust of the King of Spain, were given the names of "Old Pillars" and "New Pillars" respectively, and were both regarded as "Principal Foreign Money" by the Chinese merchants. During the time that Pillar Dollars circulated, they gradually won a position of independent coinage in China, in that it was not necessary for them to be melted down and recast as sycee before being recirculated; on many occasions they were used directly as a trade medium in China.     

1757 Ferdinand VI Pillar Dollar  

1763 Carolus III Pillar Dollar

1771 Carolus III Pillar Dollar     

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