File:Colombia 1630 8 reales obv H3032-24490.jpg

This specimen was lot 24490 in Heritage sale 3032 (Chicago, April 2014), where it sold for $1,997.50. The catalog description^[1] noted, "Philip IV cob 8 Reales 1630 RN-E, Cartagena mint, KM 3.4, Restrepo-M45, Choice VF. Full weight at 27.18 grams, this piece is well struck and attractive with minimal doubling but on a reduced-size planchet, thus the identification of the date is a bit challenging. The date is placed to the left of the upper castle on the reverse, and all 4 digits can be partially seen. The first three can be rather easily identified as 163x, with the last one either an 8, a 6 or a 0. The 1638 and 1636 dates can be discarded as the Cartagena mint closed in 1635 (and was not reopened until 1655), so the last digit must be a 0. Thus, this piece can be safely classified as a new specimen of the extremely rare Cartagena 1630 8 Reales. The only other piece assigned to this date by the cataloguer (Restrepo's M45.12 plate coin, ex UBS 9/2002, lot 4424, estimated at CHF 16,000!) has a very weak last digit, and its obverse is of the later design which transposed the denomination VIII and mintmark/assayer to the left and right sides of the shield respectively. Nevertheless, the punches in the shield between that piece and the present coin match (a fact pointed to the cataloguer by specialist Herman Blanton) so the proposed attribution can be assumed as definitive. Another important coin for the collector of this rare and fascinating series."