1 Escudo - Carlos II Colonial Cob Coinage

Carlos II, the last Habsburg king of Spain, ruled in a state of near-continuous physical and mental incapacitation — his court physicians debated whether he was bewitched — yet the colonial mints kept striking gold throughout his reign. The Lima mint operated under considerable administrative pressure during these years, as the crown's financial demands on Peru intensified with each military entanglement in Europe.

Cob coinage from Lima in this final window of Carlos II's reign is complicated by assayer transitions. Identification often hinges on the assayer initial rather than the date, as full dates were rarely punched cleanly on these irregular flans.