Bolivia 1641-P TR 8 reales
This specimen was lot 579 in Sedwick Treasure Auction 28 (Winter Park, FL, November 2020), where it sold for $9,600. The catalog description[1] noted,
"Potosí, Bolivia, cob 8 reales Royal (galano), 1641FR, with Guatemala sun-over-mountains countermark (Type II, 1839) on cross, very rare, NGC XF details / holed, c/s XF standard, ex-Stuart. An impressively huge-flan example, extending past the outer borders, with 100% full legends as a result (the characteristic retrograde D of D.G quite evident), attractively richly toned all over, holed at the bottom of the cross / left of the shield, with some minor doubling only on the shield side, which is a die-match with Lazaro #102 (rarity R4), but curiously the cross side is different and evidently unique, with corrected date (as the others show the 6 as a 0) and with two back-to-back fleurs punched vertically over the same horizontally following the date in the legend. Also of note is the fact that this piece and the others with the same obverse exhibit a Portuguese escutcheon in place of Flanders-Tirol in the shield (also known on a few non-Royal issues); in recent studies on Potosi galanos (soon to be published), Bolivian researcher Daniel Oropeza Alba has discovered a link with the Portuguese neighborhood within Potosi known as the "Lusitanos" that suffered persecution and dispossession of property as a result of the Portuguese revolution of 1640, which ended Spanish control and restored the Portuguese throne under the Duke of Braganza (Joao IV). Last but not least, this is the only known example with a Guatemala countermark, here represented by two clear, offset punches near the center of the cross. Pedigreed to the Richard Stuart collection."
This type was struck 1625-48 at Potosi. While silver cobs from Bolivia are very common, this early type is rare, as most were recalled and melted when it was discovered that the mint operators had been systematically debasing their issues, sometimes as low as .700 fine. Round "royals" such as this, which were never intended to circulate, probably had a better chance of escaping melting. Assayer "R" is also noted for this date.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 27.07 g, 0.931 fine silver, this specimen 25.95 grams and most likely debased.
Catalog reference: S-P28; KM-unl (R19a for type); Cal-unl (cf 1384), Cayón-6351.
- 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.
- Paoletti, Emilio, 8 Reales Cobs of Potosí, 2nd Ed., Buenos Aires, 2006.
- [1]Sedwick, Daniel Frank, Augi Garcia and Cori Sedwick Downing, Treasure Auction 28, featuring the Dr. Peter Jones and John O'Brien collections, Winter Park, FL: Daniel Frank Sedwick LLC, 2020.
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