1/2 Real - Philip IV

These years bracket one of the most consequential scandals in colonial minting history. In 1649, assayer Francisco de la Casa at Potosí was found to have been systematically debasing silver coinage — shaving fineness well below the mandated standard — in a fraud that had run for over a decade and implicated mint officials at the highest levels. The corrected issues that followed, including this denomination, were struck under intensified crown scrutiny. The date range on this piece places it squarely in the post-scandal remediation period.