Spain: 1 céntimo 1906 with R in circle

[FosseWay]

Can anyone shed any light on this?

It is approximately the right size and weight (15.3 mm, 0.8 g, against Numista's 15 mm and 1 g) for the real thing but has a prominent R in circle behind the king's head.

I'm figuring this is some kind of reproduction or toy, and that R stands for reproducción or réplica. But that raises questions in itself.

Toy money - such as the roughly contemporary Lauer imitations of German, British and Scandinavian coinage - tends to have clear markers that it's not the real thing. Above all, the size - they're all much smaller than the real thing and mostly considerably under 15 mm diameter, making them too small to be confused with *any* circulating coin, and not just the one they're imitating. They also have fake legends, generally advertising the Lauer name.

This piece is basically identical to the real thing and it's better made than many of the fakes deliberately designed to deceive. I'm surprised Spain didn't have laws against toy coins etc. being too similar to the real thing.

Numismatic reproductions were "a thing" back in the day, mainly for types or dates that most collectors couldn't afford, and they were varyingly ethical in terms of marking that they were copies. That an expensive Spanish gold coin from 1906 might have received this treatment, with the prominent R to protect its maker from prosecution, I could understand. But there's nothing special about the 1906 1 céntimo. If you want one, go and get one for a couple of dollars/euros. It would cost more than that to make copies, surely.

[Tirant]

Back in the 90s it was very usual in Spain to offer coin collectibles with the newspapers. I guess this one belongs to one of those collections, i have another like this one (1 peseta) also with that R, i can't remember how or why did i buy it. I eventually gave to my son and now is growing rust somewhere in his room. What i couldn't find is to wich collection belongs it.

About being too similar to an actual coin and spanish laws, as far as i know, as long as it has something that marks it as a copy it's legal to sell it. And you can believe me if i tell you that it's not the worst thing you'll find in Spain when it's about counterfeits. Sadly, it's not even close to be the worst.

[FosseWay]

Thank you, that makes perfect sense 

To be honest, I hadn't considered the possibility that this was a replica made long after the real coin ceased to be used. In this case, it doesn't really matter if they can be confused in a shop (unlike with the Lauer pieces, which were contemporary with the coins they imitated).

"Petrol station money" is a perfect explanation - I will update my records accordingly