Bolivia 1726-P Y 2 reales
The specimen shown is a 1726 cob two reales from the Potosí mint in Bolivia, struck during the brief reign of Luis I. 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. This specimen was lot 1727 in Sedwick sale 25 (Winter Park, FL, May 2018), where it sold for $130.90. The catalog description[1] noted, "Potosí, Bolivia, cob 2 reales, 1726Y, (Louis I). Worn VG with full pillars-and-waves and cross, lightly toned all over (dark around details)."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 6.77 g, 0.931 fine, .202 troy oz ASW, this specimen 6.01 grams.
Catalog reference: Cayón-10113, S-P43b; KM-34; CT-39.
- 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.
- 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 25, Winter Park, FL: Daniel Frank Sedwick LLC, 2019.
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