Bolivia 1751-P q 8 reales
This specimen was lot 620 in Sedwick Treasure Auction 28 (Winter Park, FL, November 2020), where it sold for $570. The catalog description[1] noted, "Potosí, Bolivia, cob 8 reales, 1751q/E, NGC VF 35. Thick and chunky flan with bold full pillars (well centered) and full but slightly crooked cross, both with bold full dates and clear over-assayers (not stated on label), higher grade than indicated in our opinion but with flat peripheries, contrasting sediment in crevices." 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. This type was struck for Ferdinand VI 1747-60. This is the less common of the two assayers listed for the date, "E" and "q". By this date, Mexico, Santiago and Lima were striking pillar dollars.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 27.07 g, 0.917 fine silver, this specimen 26.60 grams.
Catalog reference: S-P52; KM-40; Cal-517, Cayón-10567.
- 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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