Bolivia (1613-16)-P Q 2 reales
This specimen was lot 70201 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, October 2021), where it sold for $2,640. The catalog description[1] noted, "BOLIVIA. Cob 2 Reales, ND (ca. 1598-1621)-P Q. Potosi Mint. Philip III. VERY FINE. Weight: A nicely detailed Cob with clear mintmark and assayer letter, with light gray toning throughout. Provenance from the shipwreck of Nuestra Senora de Atocha, which sank off the coast of Florida in 1622. Sold with certificate from Mel Fisher / Treasure Salvors, #85A-128575." Cob two reales were struck at Potosi for Philip III 1598-1621 and are generally very crude. Dates were added in 1614 altho many survivors have the date off the flan. A few presentation pieces, round and fully struck, mostly eight reales, were made every year; these are today called "royals" altho it is uncertain if they were actually presented to the king in Madrid. The surviving "royals" today are nearly always holed or plugged as they were saved as part of a necklace.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 6.77 grams, 0.931 fine silver; this specimen 6.3 g.
Catalog reference: Cayón-4562, KM-8; Cal-type 128#627.
- Cayón, Adolfo, Clemente Cayón and Juan Cayón, Las Monedas Españolas, del Tremis al Euro: del 411 a Nuestros Dias, 2 volumes, Madrid: Cayón-Jano S.L., 2005.
- Calicó, Xavier, Numismática Española: Catálogo General con Precios de Todas las Monedas Españolas Acuñadas desde Los Reyes Católicos Hasta Felipe VI, 1474 a 2020, Barcelona: Aureo & Calicó, 2019.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Menzel, Sewall, Cobs, Pieces of Eight and Treasure Coins, New York: The American Numismatic Society, 2004.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The October 2021 Collector's Choice sale: World and Ancient Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.
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