Peru 1690-L R 8 reales
This specimen was lot 72670 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice Online Auction (Costa Mesa, CA, October 2024), where it sold for $2,400. The catalog description[1] noted, "PERU. Cob 8 Reales, 1690-L R. Lima Mint. Charles II. PCGS AU-50. A brilliant, shimmery exemplar with light champagne-tinted surfaces. The nicely centered obverse shows great legibility, with the first two digits of the outer date curiously placed over the waves as a result of die shift. The cross side is just as satisfying, albeit with a truncated date. This gently handled survivor easily surpasses most of its contemporaries in terms of quality and originality. From the S.P. Rutherford Collection." The mint at Lima operated briefly in the 1560's before the Potosi mint was opened and operated again 1659-60 without the permission of royal officials. Not until 1684 was the mint opened on a permanent basis and eight reales of this type were struck until 1701. Assayer de Rojas stamped his coins 1685-91 and again in 1695. Specimens with legible dates are scarce.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 27.07 g, 0.931 fine silver, this specimen 27.48 g.
Catalog reference: KM-24; Cal-595, Cayón-7641.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- 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.
- Menzel, Sewall, Cobs, Pieces of Eight and Treasure Coins, New York: The American Numismatic Society, 2004.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, October 2024 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, featuring the S.P. Rutherford Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
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