Bolivia 1670-P E 8 reales
The specimen was lot 20279 in Heritage sale 3009 (Chicago, April 2010), where it sold for $460. The catalog description[1] noted, "Carlos II cob 8 Reales 1670-E, XF40 NGC, slightly double-struck on the obverse but an exceptional cob with three fully readable dates and an unusually broad flan. The surfaces are lightly toned and original." Royals are known of this type from the Potosí mint for 1652-66 but all are rare. The regular cob issues such as this one are not nearly as nice. The 1649-52 was 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 but common.
Specification: 27.07 g, 0.931 fine silver, .810 troy oz ASW.
Catalog reference: Cayón-7546, KM 26.
- 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.
- [1]Tucker, Warren, and Scott Cordry, Heritage Signature Auction 3009: World Coins, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2010.
- 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.
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