Bolivia 1679-P C 4 reales
This specimen was lot 71141 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, November 2022), where it sold for $312. The catalog description[1] noted, "BOLIVIA. Cob 4 Reales, 1679-P. Potosi Mint; Assayer Manuel de Cejas (C). Charles II. PCGS Genuine--Environmental Damage, EF Details. This 4 Reales cob exhibits some dark corrosion, particularly on the reverse, accounting for its designation. The surviving details, however, ensure that the piece remains intriguing. The obverse displays a clear date and mintmark, along with enough of the assayer's initial to identify it as the mark of Manuel de Cejas, who worked at the Potosí mint for less than one year. The denomination mark is rotated 90 degrees, giving it a curious appearance similar to a Greek delta. The reverse has lost all of its outer detail, though the central devices are comparatively well-preserved. From the Pat Johnson Collection." This type was struck in the name of the degenerate Charles II 1667-1700. Assayer Cejas stamped coins only in 1679.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 13.54 g, 0.931 fine silver, this specimen 12.93 g.
Catalog reference: Cayón-unlisted, cf. KM-25; Cal-523.
- 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]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The November 2022 Collectors Choice Ancient & World Coins Auction, Featuring the Pat Johnson Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.
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