1/4 Real - Carlos IV arms

The fractional reales struck at Lima in the early 1790s served the chronic small-change shortage that plagued daily commerce throughout the Viceroyalty of Peru — a problem the larger milled coinage never adequately addressed. This denomination was among the last of its type before the colonial monetary reforms of the mid-1790s shifted production priorities toward larger silver denominations for transatlantic remittance.

Lima's assayer marks on pieces from this short window vary enough that attribution sometimes requires close die study.