Bolivia 1622-P T 8 reales

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Sedwick Treasure auction 26, lot 131

This specimen was lot 131 in Sedwick Treasure Auction 26 (Winter Park, FL, November 2019), where it sold for $1,785. The catalog description[1] noted, "Potosí, Bolivia, cob 8 reales, (16)22T, quadrants of cross transposed, Grade 1. Clear 22 of date (desirable and scarce as the date of the wreck) outside of off-center cross, full and well-detailed shield with minimal surface corrosion, typically silvery. Pedigreed to the Classics collection, with Fisher tag and photo-certificate #96A-20286. Recovered from Atocha, sunk in 1622 west of Key West, Florida." This type, the archetypal "piece of eight" of pirate lore, was struck 1622-48, throughout the first part of the reign of Philip IV. Dates were added in 1617; even so, many are so crudely made that the dates are not legible. It is the most common Latin America silver coin of the seventeenth century and the only one that can be collected by date. At some point, local officials began illegally debasing these coins, down to .700 fine in some cases. When this was discovered in 1648, a major scandal erupted and one mintmaster paid with his life. All the suspect silver was recalled for melting and reissue in the new design of 1652 (KM 21), with the result that cobs dated 1636-48 are today very rare.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: 27.07 g, 0.931 fine silver, this specimen 26.36 g.

Catalog reference: S-P21a; KM-19; CT-456, Cayón-6203.

Source:

  • Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
  • Cayón, Adolfo, Clemente Cayón and Juan Cayón, Las Monedas Españolas, del Tremis al Euro: del 411 a Nuestros Dias, vol. 1, 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.
  • Menzel, Sewall, Cobs, Pieces of Eight and Treasure Coins, New York: The American Numismatic Society, 2004.
  • Paoletti, Emilio, 8 Reales Cobs of Potosí, 2nd Ed., Buenos Aires, 2006.
  • [1]Sedwick, Daniel Frank, Augi Garcia and Cori Sedwick Downing, Treasure Auction 26, Winter Park, FL: Daniel Frank Sedwick LLC, 2019.

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