The Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre - Real Casa de la Moneda (National Coinage and Stamp Factory - Royal Mint) abbreviated as FNMT-RCM was created in 1893 from the merging of two age-old organizations, namely the Casa de la Moneda (The Mint) and the Fábrica del Sello (The Stamp Factory). These two entities, even though they were self-determining and under different managements, had been sharing the building in the Plaza de Colón since 1861. From that time forward, with security as the common thread, their scope of activity has never stopped expanding.
There were several public and private mints in Spain until Philip V, the first Bourbon King of Spain, decided in the 18th century to make minting coinage a State monopoly.
During the reign of Isabella II there were seven public mints, located in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Pamplona, Jubia, Segovia and Manila (in the Philippines), and each one had its own cypher and signs. When the peseta became the national currency in 1869, only the Royal Mint in Madrid was in operation.
In 1893 the Mint (Casa de la Moneda) and the Stamp Factory (Fábrica del Sello), which so far had been two different establishments sharing a building in Plaza de Colón, merged to create the Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre. |
