Bolivia 1697-P F 2 reales
This specimen was lot 919 in Sedwick sale 34 (Winter Park, FL, November 2023), where it sold for $420. The catalog description[1] noted, "Potosí, Bolivia, cob 2 reales, 1697 F, extremely rare. Full pillars and cross, three dates and mintmarks, two assayers that are both clearly F (only the second example we have seen), VF with areas of crusty dark oxidation." This type was struck 1667-1700 for Charles II. It superseded the shield/cross type which was discredited in the debasement scandal of the 1630's and 1640's. Assayer "F" served 1697-1701 and left his mark on one, two, four and eight reales (the Potosí mint did not mint gold until the reign of Charles III).
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 6.77 g, 0.931 fine silver, this specimen 6.57 grams.
Catalog reference: Cayón unlisted, S-P42; KM-24; Cal-432.
- 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.
- [1]Sedwick, Daniel Frank, Augi Garcia, Cori Sedwick Downing and Connor Falk, Treasure Auction 34, World, U.S Coins and Paper Money, Winter Park, FL: Daniel Frank Sedwick LLC, 2023.
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