Bolivia 1697-P F 8 reales
This specimen was lot 835 in Sedwick sale 34 (Winter Park, FL, November 2023), where it sold for $240. The catalog description[1] noted, "Potosí, Bolivia, cob 8 reales, 1697 F, rare. Chunky Fine with full but doubled pillars-and-waves and (off-center) cross, yet still with clear assayer and parts of all three dates, patchy black toning." This type was struck 1667-1701 for Charles II. It superseded the shield/cross type which was discredited in the debasement scandal of the 1630's and 1640's. Assayer "F" served 1697-1701 and left his mark on one, two, four and eight reales (the Potosí mint did not mint gold until the reign of Charles III).
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 27.07 g, 0.931 fine silver, the first specimen 27.61 grams.
Catalog reference: Cayón-7683, S-P42; KM-26; Cal-742.
- 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.
- 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.
- [1]Sedwick, Daniel Frank, Augi Garcia, Cori Sedwick Downing and Connor Falk, Treasure Auction 34, World, U.S Coins and Paper Money, Winter Park, FL: Daniel Frank Sedwick LLC, 2023.
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