1/2 Real - Charles IV

The Potosí mint's cob-era machinery had been replaced by the new milled press system in 1773, so by Charles IV's accession in 1788 these small fractional silvers were being struck on properly prepared planchets — a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.