Bolivia 1636-P TR 8 reales
This specimen was lot 73337 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, September 2024), where it sold for $264. The catalog description[1] noted, "BOLIVIA. Cob 8 Reales, 1636-P TR. Potosi Mint. Philip IV. PCGS Genuine--Holed, VF Details. A Potosi cob bearing both a clear "TR" assayer's monogram (for Pedro Trevino) as well as a clear 1636 date. This RARE combination is unlisted in Calico and Paoletti was unable to locate an example. This piece offers all relevant design details along with a full Habsburg shield on its chunky compact flan. Holed at about 5 o'clock, but in such a way that it avoided piercing any important elements. Deeply toned and quite striking overall. From the S.P. Rutherford Collection." Royals are known of this type from the Potosi mint for 1630-48 but all are rare. The regular cob issues are not nearly as nice. The 1649-52 was 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 example may be as low as 0.750 fine.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 27.07 grams, 0.931 fine silver (if full fineness), .810 troy oz ASW, this specimen 27.33 g.
Catalog reference: Cayón-6317, KM-19a; Cal Type-327; Paoletti-Unlisted.
- Cayón, Adolfo, Clemente Cayón and Juan Cayón, Las Monedas Españolas, del Tremis al Euro: del 411 a Nuestros Dias, vol. 1, 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 Potosi, 2nd Ed., Buenos Aires, 2006.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, September 2024 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
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