Bolivia 1737-P Y 2 reales
This specimen was lot 928 in Sedwick sale 34 (Winter Park, FL, November 2023), where it sold for $630. The catalog description[1] noted,
"Potosí, Bolivia, cob 2 reales, 1737 Y/M, unique discovery coin. A gorgeous cob with choice full pillar-and-waves and cross-lions-castles, XF+ with deep-contrast toning, all three dates and assayers and mintmarks clear; but the best aspect is the fact that upper-right assayer shows the bottom half of what is clearly Y/M, believed to be the first physical evidence of a brief return of assayer Y (Diego de Ybarbouru, 1701-28) per a mint document recently discovered by the esteemed archival researcher Jorge Proctor. One small problem: The document is dated July 17, 1732! Jorge's theory for the date on this coin is that the actual 2-punch broke and had to be replaced with a 7 with bottom base added to make it a 2, supported by the fact that there is a raised area below the 7 above the waves. However, the tail of the 7 in the legend does not show this at all, and it would seem that hand-engraving a 2 would be more sensible. We see two other possibilities: Either assayer Y (whose mark was unique and not used for anything else) came out of retirement a second time and we just do not have the document to prove it yet, or what we are seeing is some other letter, considering that the top is off the flan. In any case it is a unique and fascinating discovery coin that researchers will have to account for going forward."
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. This type was struck 1729-47, superseding a type (KM 29) which was 0.931 fine. Assayers "E" and "M" are listed for 1737, but not assayer "Y". 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.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 6.77 g, 0.917 fine silver, this specimen 6.13 grams.
Catalog reference: Cayón unlisted, S-unl; KM-unl (29a for type); Cal-unl.
- 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.
- Menzel, Sewall, Cobs, Pieces of Eight and Treasure Coins, New York: The American Numismatic Society, 2004.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [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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