Bolivia 1678-P E 2 reales
The first specimen was lot 638 in Sedwick Treasure Auction 28 (Winter Park, FL, November 2020), where it sold for $360. The catalog description[1] noted, "Potosí, Bolivia, cob 2 reales, 1678E, ex-Jones. Very broad and in fact overweight flan with full pillars-and-waves and cross-lions-castles, two bold dates and part of a third, plus all three assayers and mintmarks, lightly abraded AXF with hairline edge-split, contrasting toning inside the cross. Pedigreed to the Dr. Peter Jones collection and to the UBS auction of March 2007, with original lot-tag #125." The second specimen was lot 1813 in Sedwick Treasure Auction 38 (Winter Park, FL, November 2025), where it did not sell. The catalog description[2] noted, "BOLIVIA, Potosí, cob 2 reales, 1678/7 E, unique (unlisted). VF with crude surfaces but showing two full pillars plus date between with overdate a bit obscured, doubled cross with partial date below and part of king's name visible, some surface marks, dark sedimentation in the fields." 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. Assayer "E" (Antonio de Ergueta) was brought in to clean house after the debasement scandal and served 1650-79, well into the reign of Charles II, as here. Potosi was the only mint to produce two reales during 1676-78.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 6.77 g, 0.931 fine silver, the first specimen 7.13 grams, the second specimen 6.00 grams.
Catalog reference: S-P37b; KM-24; Cal-402, Cayón-7339.
- 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.
- 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.
- [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.
- [2]Sedwick, Daniel Frank, Augi Garcia, Cori Sedwick Downing, Connor Falk and Sarah Sproles, Auction 38, World, U.S Coins and Paper Money, featuring the Jorge Ugaz Collection of Lima Silver Cob 2 Reales and the Darby Collection of Guatemala Silver Cobs, Winter Park, FL: Daniel Frank Sedwick LLC, 2025.
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