320 reales Joseph Napoleon, Madrid, 1810 and 1812
The forced accession of Joseph Napoleon to the Spanish throne (1808-1813) brought important changes to the coinage in comparison with the preceding period. In a clear break with tradition, the royal arms were changed from dynastic to territorial arms by the decree of 12 July 1808: the Arms of the Crown were henceforth to consist of a shield divided into six quarters - Castile, Leon, Aragon, Navarre, Granada and the Indies, the latter represented according to ancient custom by the two globes and two columns, the image made famous by Philip V's so-called Mundos y Mares coinage. Over all these quarters was to be placed, as an escutcheon, the Eagle that distinguished the Imperial and Royal Family.
This large coat of arms was the one used on the gold coinage, whose production was ordered on 28 August 1809, surrounded by the traditional collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece, of which the new monarch took possession. Likewise, by royal order of 18 April 1809, it was decided to replace the old monetary denominations with values expressed in reales de vellon, in this case 320, the general money of account used by the population, thereby ending the traditional reference to escudos.
The legend remained conservative, being the same as that used since the time of Charles III. The portrait, however, is neoclassical in style, the work of Mariano Gonzalez Sepulveda with the collaboration of the French engraver Augustin Dupre. The royal bust wears only a headband, in the manner of ancient Hellenistic kings, and faces left, unlike the portraits of the preceding Bourbon monarchs.
Of this coin, the largest denomination of the system, there were only two issues, both struck in Madrid: in 1810, with assayers AI (Antonio Rafael Narvaez and Isidoro Ramos del Manzano) and RS (Antonio Rafael Narvaez and Jose Sanchez Delgado), and in 1812, with assayers RS. These were years in which the French-backed government appeared to be more firmly established thanks to the support of the Imperial army.