8 Reales – Kingdom of Aragon

By 1707, the Kingdom of Aragon was in a state of profound political and monetary crisis due to the War of the Spanish Succession. Having backed the Habsburg Archduke Charles against the Bourbon Philip V, the Aragonese territories faced severe repercussions following their military defeat. The Nueva Planta decrees, issued by the victorious Philip V in 1707, systematically dismantled Aragon's historic fueros (laws and institutions), incorporating the region into a centralized, Castilian-style administration. This political upheaval directly shattered the framework for Aragon's separate monetary system, which had been governed by the Cortes and the Diputación del General.

The currency in circulation was a complex mix, reflecting Aragon's historic autonomy and its integration into broader Spanish trade. The standard unit was the libra jaquesa (pound of Jaca), divided into 20 sueldos or 240 dineros. However, in practice, a plethora of coins circulated: local Catalan-Aragonese croatas and pessetes, Castilian reales and escudos, and significant quantities of French, Italian, and Dutch coins from Mediterranean commerce. The war had caused severe inflation, debasement of coinage, and widespread economic disruption, leaving the monetary landscape chaotic and unstable.

The Nueva Planta decrees resolved this chaos by imposition, abolishing Aragon's separate minting rights and monetary standards. From 1707 onward, the Castilian monetary system became the sole legal standard across the former kingdom. The real and the escudo replaced the libra jaquesa, and all taxes were required to be paid in the new official currency. This change was not merely financial but symbolic, marking the end of Aragon as a distinct political entity and its forced assimilation into a unified Bourbon Spain, where economic policy was dictated entirely from Madrid.