Bolivia 1669-P E 2 reales
This specimen was lot 1290 in Aureo y Calicó sale 391 (Barcelona, June 2022), where it sold for €170 (about US$214 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"1669. Carlos II. Potosí. E. 2 reales. Doble fecha, la del anverso de tres dígitos. MBC. (Bolivia, Charles II, two reales of 1669, Potosí mint. Two dates, the obverse date with three digits. Very fine.)"
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. Zaragoza was the only other mint to strike two reales in 1669. Assayer "E" (Antonio de Ergueta) was brought in to clean house and served 1650-79, well into the reign of Charles II, as here.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 6.77 g, 0.931 fine silver, this specimen 4,89 g.
Catalog reference: KM 24, AC. 386, Cayón-7327.
- 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 Juan Carlos I, 1474 a 2001, Barcelona: Aureo & Calicó, 2008.
- Menzel, Sewall, Cobs, Pieces of Eight and Treasure Coins, New York: The American Numismatic Society, 2004.
- [1]Sisó, Teresa, Eduard Domingo and Lluís Lalana, Subasta Numismática 391, Barcelona: Aureo y Calicó, 2022.
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