Bolivia 1716-P Y 8 reales
The first specimen was lot 609 in Sedwick Treasure Auction 28 (Winter Park, FL, November 2020), where it sold for $336. The catalog description[1] noted, "Potosí, Bolivia, cob 8 reales, 1716Y. Chunky flan with lots of small, sharp points, full pillars and nearly full cross, two dates and at least parts of all three assayers, VF with mostly patchy dark toning." The second specimen was lot 1594 in Sedwick Treasure Auction 28 (Winter Park, FL, November 2020), where it sold for $360. The catalog description[1] noted, "Potosí, Bolivia, cob 8 reales, 1716Y. Typically chunky, with much peripheral flatness but bold date, choice top of right pillar, some toning and dark spots, Fine with small edge-crack. With Conch Coin Co. certificate stating provenance as "1728 British Wreck 'Seahorse' sank [sic] off Uruguay."" The Potosí mint was the most prolific issuer of silver during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, nearly all of it cobs such as this. The other Latin American mints placed the date near the edge where it rarely struck up, whereas Potosi issues have the date smack in the middle, ensuring that the date would be legible even if the rest of the design was smeared. As a result, Bolivian cobs can be collected by date, unlike the other mints (Mexico, Lima, Guatemala). The Potosí mint was the last to abandon the manufacture of cobs, in 1773.
Reported Mintage: unknown.
Specification: 27.07 g, 0.931 fine silver, .810 troy oz AGW, the first specimen 26.75 grams, the second specimen 26.24 grams.
Catalog reference: Cayón-9261, S-P43a; KM-31; Cal-1552.
- 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.
- Paoletti, Emilio, 8 Reales Cobs of Potosí, 2nd Ed., Buenos Aires, 2006.
- [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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