Bolivia 1660-P E 8 reales
The first specimen was lot 455 in Áureo y Calicó sale 345 (Barcelona, March 2020), where it sold for €420 (about US$554 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"1660. Felipe IV. Potosí. E. 8 reales. Triple fecha, una parcial y triple ensayador. MBC. (Bolivia, Philip IV, 1621-65, eight reales of 1660, three dates, one partial, and three assayers initials, very fine.)"
The second specimen was lot 72072 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice Online Auction (Costa Mesa, CA, October 2024), where it sold for $1,080. The catalog description[2] noted, "BOLIVIA. Cob 8 Reales, 1660-P E. Potosi Mint. Philip IV. PCGS VF-35. Moderately struck up Cob, with visible mintmark and assayer information. Date appears twice on the obverse, and once on the reverse (as three digits). From the S.P. Rutherford Collection." Royals are known of this type from the Potosí mint but all are rare. The regular cob issues are not nearly as nice. The years 1649-52 were a period of reform at the Potosí mint; it was found that the previous mintmasters in office 1625-48 had been debasing the cobs, a crime for which one official paid with his life.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 27.07 grams, 0.931 fine silver, .810 troy oz ASW, the first specimen 27,14 g, the second specimen 26.57 g.
Catalog reference: KM 21, Cal-423, Cayón-6541.
- 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, 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.
- 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]Sisó, Teresa, Eduard Domingo and Lluís Lalana, Subasta Publica 345: Colección Manuela Etcheverría, Barcelona: Áureo y Calicó, 2020.
- [2]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, October 2024 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, featuring the S.P. Rutherford Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
Links to: