Bolivia 1742-P C real
This specimen was lot 1941 in Sedwick sale 34 (Winter Park, FL, November 2023), where it sold for $204. The catalog description[1] noted, "Potosí, Bolivia, cob 1 real, 1742 P+C, unique. First and only example we have seen or heard of with assayer P on the pillars side and assayer C on the cross side (possibly C/P). AU+ with nice, original surfaces showing off much luster, bold pillars and partial cross." 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 This type was struck 1729-47 and superseded an earlier type (KM 28) which was 0.931 fine silver. 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. The low weight of this example suggests clipping or extensive corrosion.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.38 g, 0.917 fine silver, this specimen 2.77 grams.
Catalog reference: Cayón-8568, S-P49; KM-unl (28a 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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