Catalog
1/2 Real - Philip III
| Issuer | Casa de la Moneda de Potosí |
|---|---|
| Year | 1603-1621 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Central crowned royal cypher of Philip III, composed of interlaced letters P and S surmounted by a crown, all struck in the typical irregular cob style. The assayer's initial and the Potosí mint mark (P) appear to the left of the monogram in the field. A partial legend reading PHILIPPVS III DG runs along the periphery, though heavily truncated due to the irregular flan characteristic of macuquina coinage. The overall design is boldly struck in hammered relief on an irregularly shaped silver planchet. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Potosí's cob coinage — macuquinas — existed purely to move silver out of the Andes as fast as the mints could produce it. Assayers at Potosí during this period were notoriously corrupt; the scandal of 1649 eventually exposed decades of debased coinage, though the worst fraud post-dated this Philip III issue. Half-real denominations saw the least scrutiny precisely because their small size made systematic debasement harder to detect at that weight.