Spain 1688-MD M 8 escudos
This specimen was lot 211 in Aureo y Calicó sale 448 (Barcelona, March 2025), where it sold for 19,000 € (about US$24,820 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted, "* 1688/7. Carlos II. (Madrid). 8 escudos. CAROLVS visible. Lions and castles. Without the escutcheon of Portugal. Magnificent example. Extremely rare. Only one known? EBC [extremely fine]." The SCWC lists eight escudos from Madrid for 1668, 1686 and 1693 whereas Cayón notes 1661, 1666, 1668-69, 1685-87 and 1691-93. Other eight escudo cobs were struck in Barcelona (KM A60) and Seville (KM 61.2). In 1718, during the reign of Philip V, the Madrid mint changed its mintmark from MD to the crowned M used today.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 27.47 g, 0.917 fine gold, 36 mm diameter, this specimen 26.90 g.
Catalog reference: Cayón unlisted, KM 168.1 (unlisted date), AC-missing, Cal.Onza type 124 but different date.
- 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]Sisó, Teresa, Eduard Domingo and Lluís Lalana, Selección de 500 Monedas, Medallas y Billetes, Barcelona: Aureo y Calicó, 2025.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
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