Mexico 1615/4-Mo F 8 reales
This specimen was lot 490 in Sedwick Treasure Auction 28 (Winter Park, FL, November 2020), where it sold for $36,000. The catalog description[1] noted, "Mexico City, Mexico, cob 8 reales Royal (galano), 1615/4F, very rare (three known), NGC AU details / holed, tooled. Mexican 8R Royals are a sight to behold, as they invariably come on huge and perfectly round flans with full details, no matter the period or assayer. This coin is no exception, with every detail very bold and evenly struck, with lovely toning all over, its high grade maintained despite the inevitable hole at the top of the cross. The exaggerated Spanish 5 in the date for the 1615 issues like this one has always been a source of confusion because it looks more like a backwards 2 than a 5, but the mystery can be solved by noticing the 5 is actually modified from a 4, and in fact the dies match the single-known 1614 example (Lazaro 39), one telltale sign being the presence of odd diamond-shaped ornaments flanking the top of the date's penultimate digit 1. Of the 1615 issues there are only two others known besides the present coin, all from the same 1614 dies: Lazaro #40 and Herrera #525 (reproduced in Dasi, Burzio and Calbeto, stated as belonging to the Casa de Moneda de Madrid). A beautiful and impressive piece, to be sure, and also quite rare as a type (dated Philip III Mexican 8R Royals)." The regular cobs were struck 1607-21. These round "royals" are known from 1607-18 but all are rare, rarer than the equivalent Bolivian royals.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 27.07 g, 0.931 fine silver, this specimen 26.53 grams.
Catalog reference: S-M17; KM-R44.3 (overdate not listed); Cal-878, Cayón-4903.
- 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.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Elizondo, Carlos A., Eight Reales and Pesos of the New World, San Antonio, TX: 1968.
- Menzel, Sewall, Cobs, Pieces of Eight and Treasure Coins, New York: The American Numismatic Society, 2004.
- [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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