Bolivia 1687-P VR 2 reales cob

from the Mountain Groan Collection

The specimen shown is a 1687 cob two reales from the Potosí mint in Bolivia, struck during the reign of Charles II, the last Hapsburg king of Spain. The Potosí mint was the most prolific issuer of silver during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, nearly all of it cobs such as this. This type was struck 1667-1701 and superseded an earlier type (KM 16) which bore the name of Philip IV. The other Latin American mints placed the date near the edge where it rarely struck up, whereas Potosi issues have the date smack in the middle, ensuring that the date would be legible even if the rest of the design was smeared. As a result, Bolivian cobs can be collected by date, unlike the other mints (Mexico, Lima, Guatemala). The Potosí mint was the last to abandon the manufacture of cobs, in 1773.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: 6.77 g, 0.931 fine, .202 troy oz ASW.

Catalog reference: Cayón-7377, KM 24.

Source:

• 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.

Link to:

• 1686 2 reales "heart"
• Spain 1687-Seg BR 2 reales
• 1687 4 reales
• 1687 "royal" 8 reales
• 1688 2 reales
• 1693 "heart" 2 reales
• Coins and currency dated 1687
• return to coins of Bolivia