Spain Alfonso XII 50 Centimos 1880 EF+ (Matte))

Excellent silver (0.835) (2.5Grs) scarce high grade coin struck for 3 years 1880/81/85. It isn't known when man first came to the Iberia Peninsula - the Altamira caves off the Cantabrian coast approximately 50 miles West of Santander were fashioned on Palaeolithic times. SpaIn was a battleground for centuries before it became a united nation, fought for the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Celts, Romans, Vandals, Visigoths and Moors. Ferdinand and Isabella destroyed the last Moorish stronghold in 1492, freeing the national energy and resources for the era of discovery and colonization that would make Spain the most powerful country in Europe during the 16th. century. After the destruction of the Spanish Armada, 1588, Spain never again played a major role in European politics. Forcing Ferdinand to give up his throne and placing him under military guard at Valencay in 1808. Napoleonic France ruled Spain until 1814. When the Monarchy was restored in 1814 it continued, only interrupted by the short-lived Republic of 173-74, until the exile of Alfonso XIII in 1931 when the Second Republic was established. Alfonso XII ruled from 1874 to 1885 and Regency from 1885-1996. .