[265] Coins were minted in sixteenth and seventeenth-century from gold, silver, and vellon. Vellon coins, which were a mixture of silver and copper, were first issued in 1556 under Phillip II. After 1602 all silver was removed from the vellon coins so that silver could be added to the royal treasury. The maravedí was a  gold coin in ancient times, but by the fifteenth century it had very little value.

In order of value, the coins were:
 

Doblon de a ocho	gold coin worth 8 escudos
Doblon	gold coin worth 2 escudos
Escudo, or ducat	gold coin worth 440 maravedís in 1609
Real	silver coin usually worth 34 maravedís
Quartillo	vellon coin worth 8 1/2 maravedís
Quarto	vellon coin worth 4 maravedís
Medio quarto	vellon coin worth 2 maravedís
Maravedí	vellon worth 2 blancas
Blanca	vellon coin worth 1/2 maravedí

Monetary value fluctuated widely. For example, the escudo, worth 374 maravedís in 1497, underwent the following changes:
 

1566	400 maravedís
1609	440 maravedís
1642	550 maravedís
1643	612 and then 510 maravedís
1651	about 544 maravedís
1652	about 476 maravedís

The purchasing power of these coins also fluctuated widely. In 1650 a kilo of bread cost four quartos, a liter of wine cost one real, and a liter of oil cost two reales. An unskilled worker could earn four reales a day. An artisan earned about six reales a day, and a doctor earned twenty-five [266] ducats a month. A priest usually received two or three reales for saying a Mass. A lieutenant in the artillery earned forty ducats a month.

Based on Antonio Dominguez Ortiz, Alteraciones andaluzas, p. 14; Henry C. Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, I, Appendix III, pp. 560-565.