The Real d'or (illustrated to the right) was struck in the Austrian Netherlands at the Antwerp mint between 1546 - 1556 during the reign of Charles V, King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor. His contemporaries were Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France - both great rulers in their own right. But, it was Charles that dominated the politics of Europe for 40 years.

Not since Charlemagne in the early 9th century had any one ruler dominated so much of Europe. While Charles V's (known as Carlos I in Spain) Spanish subjects were exploring and claiming for Spain vast overseas territories in Central and South America. Hernan Cortes, the conqueror of Mexico, began to refer to his sovereign as "ruler of the world." Charles spoke of himself as "God's standard bearer," and his banner bore the legend plus ultra - "always further" or "plus more". This motto later became famous as part of the legend on the well known Spanish pillar dollar. And the very first coins struck in the Americas also bore the now famous legend - Carlos & Johanna.

Charles V was heir to several crowns. Actually born in the Netherlands, he ruled Spain, the Netherlands, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and important cities in Italy such as Naples & Milan. He was elected Emperor of Germany. He owned enormous oversea dominions in Africa; and the two Americas soon became New Spain. And he had claims to the thrones of Hungary and Bohemia. He governed each part of his European dominions by a different title and under a different constitution. He had no fixed imperial capital, but moved about from place to place, a legitimate sovereign everywhere and, for the most part, a popular one as well.

During his reign he fought many wars throughout his Empire - most of them successful, some not so successful. But such was the power of Charles that, even though his navy was weaker than his army, he yet was able to fight by sea on two enormous fronts, first, in the Mediterranean against the Turks and other Moslems, and secondly, in the Channel and along the coast, all the way from Antwerp to Cadiz. His fleets also ranged the east and the west coasts of both North & South America.

In 1555-56, Charles V voluntarily abdicated, but he did not do so all at once. He left the Holy Roman Empire to Ferdinand and all his other dominions to his son, PHILIP II of Spain. Many historians have seen Charles V's reign as a failure. His contemporaries, however, did not, especially as Philip's marriage with Queen MARY I of England in 1554 seemed to open up a possible future claim to the throne of England for the house of Habsburg. But Mary died young and childless and any potential claim to the throne of England evaporated.

For his retirement, he resided at a villa in Spain built next to the monastery of San Yuste. At last, he was able to live his life as he wished instead of constantly being embroiled in wars. Being a deeply religious man, he spent much time in prayer. But he also enjoyed the finer things in life such as music and art. One of his hobbies was the building of mechanical clocks. But he never entirely gave up his greatest love, meddling in the politics of Europe. He died, on Sept. 21, 1558.