Bolivia 1657-P E 8 reales
Royals are known of this type from the Potosi mint but all are rare. The regular cob issues are not nearly as nice. The years 1649-52 were a period of reform at the Potosi mint; it was found that the previous mintmasters in office 1625-48 had been debasing the cobs, a crime for which one official paid with his life. This specimen was lot 126 in Aureo y Calicó sale 242 (Barcelona, March 2012), where it sold for 2,300 € (about US$3,571 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"Felipe IV (1621-1665). 1657. Potosí. E. 8 reales. Redonda. Tipo ´real´. Triple fecha: la del anverso de dos dígitos; la del reverso de tres y la de la gráfila completa. Perforación. Muy rara. (EBC-). (Philip IV, 1621-65, eight reales of 1656, Potosi mint, round royal type. Three dates: two digit date on obverse, three digit date on reverse with full date on the rim; holed, very rare, very fine)."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 27.07 g, 0.931 fine silver, .810 troy oz ASW.
Catalog reference: Cayón-6497, KM R21, Cal. 419, Lázaro 153, señala rareza 3.
- 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.
- Menzel, Sewall, Cobs, Pieces of Eight and Treasure Coins, New York: The American Numismatic Society, 2004.
- Paoletti, Emilio, 8 Reales Cobs of Potosí, 2nd Ed., Buenos Aires, 2006.
- [1]Sisó, Teresa, Eduardo Domingo and Lluís Lalana, Selección de 500 Monedas, Medallas y Billetes, Barcelona: Aureo y Calicó Subastas, 2012.
Link to: