On January 16, 1724, the King of Spain, Felipe V, unexpectedly abdicates in favor of his son Luis, the first of the Bourbon monarchs to have been born on Spanish soil, who was barely 17 years old and had no experience in government affairs.

There is a version that Felipe V abdicated because he found out that his nephew was seriously ill and was going to die, due to the treaties ending the succession war, the crown of France and Spain could not fall to the same person, so if he put his son as king, Felipe V could assert his dynastic rights over the crown of France and direct that of Spain from a distance..... But his nephew against all odds healed and it was his own son who fell victim to the illness.

However, the version that is perhaps closest to the reality of things explains that in reality Felipe V did not abdicate the throne of France with ambitions, and his return was not an easy thing either, since he had no interest in returning. There was a secret vow by Felipe V and his wife to retract the throne, making that vow for the first time in 1720 and resuming it 4 times. They waited until Luis Primero was the same age as Felipe V when he assumed the throne, to pass it on to him and retire from the world. As they said "to think only about their salvation and serving God."

His abdication in 1724 mentions that he had already been considering this for four years, which is correct, knowing of the existence of the secret vote of 1720. Upon his return, Felipe V had no interest in returning to the throne. But it was the Pope's nuncio in Madrid, Alessandro Aldobrandini, who finally convinced him. The young king's policy was to focus more on American problems, from New Spain to Argentina, instead of doing so on the popular idea of ​​recovering the Italian possessions lost in the War of Succession; This aroused suspicion among the peninsulars for this reason. The reign of Luis I was very important in the coins of the Spanish European and American kingdoms alike for a simple fact, Luis I only lasted seven months on the Spanish throne. The news of the reign of Luis I reached Mexico in the middle of that 1724, the first of the mints that began the coinage with the name of this monarch, for which reason coins had already been made in the name of the abdicated Felipe V for some time during that year, so pieces of both kings are known with that date on the coins (which is not a rare thing), however what is rare is the minimal existing mintage of this king and the rarity of these pieces then and today day, the most recognizable being the smallest in silver, half a real, because it clearly bears an L in the central monogram.

The legend read on those coins: “LUDOVICVS I.DEI.GRATIA” and on the reverse “HISPANIARVM.ET.INDIARVM.REX”: Luis I, by the Grace of God, King of Spain and the Indies. Here Luis I half real coins, rare when seen, one of which is dated, minted in Mexico. Luis I died seven months later, and having no children, on the same day that Luis I left this world, on August 31, his father King Felipe easily resumed the reins of the Spanish government.