Colombia 1634-C E 8 reales
This specimen was lot 1395 in Aureo y Calicó sale 423 (Barcelona, December 2023), where it sold for 1,200 € (about US$1,554 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted, "1634. Felipe IV. Cartagena de Indias. E. 8 reales. Extremely rare. MBC- [about very fine]." The city of Cartagena was founded by the Spanish in 1533 and quickly became a center of the African slave trade. Several destructive pirate raids prompted royal officials to begin fortifying the town in 1631. The usual lack of resources and labor meant that the town was unprepared for a major attack in 1697 by the French. The Cartagena mint operated as competition to Nuevo Reino (Bogota) in 1626-34. All of its products are rare today.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 27.46 g, 0.931 fine silver, this specimen 27,33 g.
Catalog reference: KM 3.4, AC. 1238, Restrepo M45-15, Cayón-6298.
- 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.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Menzel, Sewall, Cobs, Pieces of Eight and Treasure Coins, New York: The American Numismatic Society, 2004.
- [1]Sisó, Teresa, Eduard Domingo and Lluís Lalana, Subasta 423: Subasta Numismatica, Barcelona: Aureo y Calicó, 2023.
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