Bolivia 1715-P Y 2 reales
This specimen was lot 640 in Sedwick Treasure Auction 28 (Winter Park, FL, November 2020), where it sold for $3,120. The catalog description[1] noted, "Potosí, Bolivia, cob 2 reales Royal (galano), 1715Y, very rare, NGC AU details / holed. Choice deep strike with original luster on fields, typically thick, small-diameter flan with very little legend but also very little doubling (trace of it on cross side only), holed to right of cross / bottom of right pillar. Not unique (another appeared in the Paul Karon collection), but probably the finest known." The Spanish colony of Upper Peru produced hammered cob coinage at the Potosí mint from 1573 to 1773, with a major debasement scandal and subsequent reform occurring in 1649-1652. The royal or presentation issues are very rare and highly sought after, while the regular strikes vary in price according to the visibility of the date, mint, and assayer initials. The cobs were debased from 0.931 fine to 0.917 in 1728. Assayer "Y" is listed for 1701-27.
Recorded mintage: unknown but a common date.
Specification: 6.77 g, 0.931 fine silver, this specimen 5.44 grams.
Catalog reference: S-P43a; KM-R29; Cal-843, Cayón-8668.
- 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.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- 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.
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