8 Escudos Fernando VI 1750: Gold Coin Value

If you inherited or found an 8 Escudos of Fernando VI dated 1750, you have a genuine gold coin, not a novelty token. It holds 26.97 grams of gold, close to a full troy ounce, so even a worn, damaged example carries a hard floor tied to the gold price. In 2026, that floor alone runs into the low thousands of US dollars, and clean examples sell for far more.

This is one of the few Mexican coins where the melt value already makes it worth real money. What you need to figure out is whether yours is genuine, what condition it's in, and whether it's a common date or something a collector will pay a premium for.

What this coin actually is

The 8 Escudos was the largest gold denomination of the Spanish colonial system. Spanish speakers call it an onza (ounce) because of its weight. It was struck at the Mexico City mint (the Casa de Moneda de México), which was the main precious-metal supplier for the Spanish Empire in the 1700s.

Your piece dates to the reign of Fernando VI (Ferdinand VI of Spain). The 1750 issue is the second type: a bust of the king in a draped robe on one side, and the crowned Spanish arms with the Order of the Golden Fleece (Cruz del Toisón) below on the other. The letters MF are the assayer's initials, the mint official who certified the gold's purity.

Technical specs (check yours against these)

If your coin weighs meaningfully less than 26.97 grams or its diameter is off from 36 mm, treat it as suspect until a professional confirms it. Colonial gold is heavily counterfeited.

What it's worth in USD

Value on colonial gold is driven by three things: gold content (the floor), rarity of the date and assayer combination, and grade (condition). Here's the honest picture.

The melt floor moves with the gold market, so it changes daily. At current gold prices, the metal alone in this coin is worth several thousand US dollars. That means no honest buyer will offer you less than melt, and anyone offering far below it is either lowballing you or knows the coin is fake.

Above melt, the premium depends entirely on eye appeal and certification. A raw coin that looks cleaned, polished, or scratched sells near melt. A crisp, original-surface example with strong strike can bring several times the gold value from a collector who wants exactly that date.

The myth to ignore

A lot of sites and social media posts claim any old Spanish colonial gold coin is worth a fortune "because it's from a shipwreck" or "because it's 18th century." Age alone adds little. What matters is whether the specific date and assayer are scarce, and whether the surfaces are original. A 1750 MX 8 Escudos is a known, cataloged type, not a unique rarity. It's valuable because it's gold and because it's collected, not because it's mysterious.

Ignore anyone who tells you it's worth six figures. That's clickbait. Real record prices for high-grade Mexican colonial 8 Escudos land in the mid five figures for the rarest dates and finest condition, not for a standard circulated 1750.

How to tell if yours is genuine

Counterfeits of colonial gold are everywhere, including cast copies and gold-plated base metal. Start with these checks:

• Weigh it on a jeweler's scale. It should read very close to 26.97 g. A light coin is a red flag.
• Measure the diameter with a caliper. Target 36 mm.
• Check the edge. It should be reeded (fine vertical lines). A smooth or crudely filed edge is suspicious.
• Look at the engraving style. Genuine dies show crisp, consistent lettering and a clean bust. Cast fakes look soft, grainy, or have seams.
• Confirm the mint mark and assayer (MF). These must match known genuine examples.

If it passes those and you're serious about selling, get it certified by NGC or PCGS. A slab (a sealed graded holder) removes doubt for buyers and usually raises what you can get.

Where to sell it

Because this is a precious-metal coin worth real money, sell it where you can verify the buyer and the price:

• A verified numismatic dealer from the Pesoteca directory, who can appraise it on the spot and pay at least melt value.
• The Pesoteca buy-and-sell forum, where collectors deal directly and pay premiums for good coins.

Before you sell, photograph the obverse (front), reverse (back), and edge, and compare your coin against the value table above. Don't dump it to the first buyer on Facebook Marketplace, and never sell below the current gold melt value. For more on grading and what condition means for price, see our guide on coin condition and grades and our overview of Mexican colonial coinage.

Got a 1750 8 Escudos and not sure if it's genuine or what date variety you have? Post clear photos of both sides and the edge in the Pesoteca forum and let collectors who handle these coins weigh in before you sell.

Eight escudos, Fernando VI, 1750, Mexico mint. A Catholic jubilee year and the midpoint of the 18th century, a symbolic moment of Bourbon stability. New Spain was experiencing the demographic peak that followed recovery from the matlazahuatl epidemic of 1736-1739. Fernando VI continued the neutralist government, and Ensenada was driving fiscal reforms in the peninsula. In Mexico, the Count of Revillagigedo was four years into his viceroyalty, carrying out administrative and military reorganization. The piece follows the second type, with the Golden Fleece beneath the fleece and a draped bust. The ounce weighs a theoretical 27.06 grams at a fineness of 0.916. Produced by mill press on a round planchet. The pillar reverse retained the crowned Pillars of Hercules over the sea with the PLVS VLTRA banners. Krause KM#150 groups the pillar coinage of Fernando VI under this iconographic type. Pieces from 1750 are collectible for the symbolism of the jubilee year and for their place within the most stable five-year block of the Mexican pillar series. The technical and fineness standardization of the gold was fully consolidated after eighteen years of mill-press minting at the capital's mint.