30 Sous – Kingdom of Majorca

In 1808, the Kingdom of Majorca, encompassing the Balearic Islands, was not an independent monetary entity. As a long-integrated province of the Spanish Crown, it operated under the centralized monetary system of the Kingdom of Spain. The official circulating currency was therefore the Spanish real, with its higher denominations like the peso duro (or dollar) containing 8 reales. This system was backed by the monarchy, and any minting of coinage was controlled by royal authority, not by Palma de Mallorca.

The year 1808, however, was a moment of profound crisis that destabilized this established order. The Napoleonic invasion of Spain and the abdication of King Ferdinand VII created a power vacuum and triggered the Peninsular War. With the legitimate monarch deposed and Joseph Bonaparte installed on the throne, the traditional structures of royal authority, including financial governance, were thrown into disarray. While the Balearic Islands remained under the control of Spanish loyalist forces (and later saw British occupation), the collapse of central authority on the mainland inevitably disrupted economic and monetary stability.

Consequently, the primary "currency situation" in Majorca in 1808 was one of uncertainty and potential scarcity. The reliable influx of official coinage from the mainland could be interrupted by war, leading to hoarding and a shortage of specie. While there is no record of a distinct Majorcan currency being issued at this precise moment, the conditions were ripe for the use of older, clipped, or foreign coins in circulation, and for the increased reliance on credit and promissory notes to facilitate local trade. The islands' economy had to adapt to the severe disruptions caused by the wider Spanish crisis of sovereignty.