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1/2 Real - Charles IV
| Issuer | Spanish Colonial Administration (Potosí Mint) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1789-1791 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Armored and draped bust of King Charles IV facing right, rendered in the neoclassical portrait style characteristic of late 18th-century Spanish colonial coinage. The effigy displays a laureate head with carefully detailed hair. The circular legend reads CAROLUS IV DEI GRATIA, distributed around the bust, with the mint date appearing in the lower field below the portrait. The overall relief is moderately struck, typical of the Potosí Mint production of this period. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Crowned Royal Arms of Spain at center, featuring the quartered shield with castles and lions and a pomegranate in the base, flanked on either side by the Pillars of Hercules representing the Strait of Gibraltar. The pillars bear the traditional P and R mint and assayer initials to the left and right respectively. The circular legend HISPAN ET IND REX with the Potosí mint mark PTS is distributed around the design, identifying Charles IV as King of the Spains and the Indies. The crown above the shield is of the Spanish royal type with arched elements. |
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| Additional information |
The Potosí mint's cob-era machinery had been replaced by the new milled press system in 1773, so by Charles IV's accession in 1788 these small fractional silvers were being struck on properly prepared planchets — a far cry from the hand-cut macuquinas that had defined Potosí output for two centuries. The short window of 1789–1791 for this type reflects the transition to new royal portrait dies following Charles III's death in December 1788, with colonial mints often running months behind Madrid's directives before updated imagery reached the assayers.