1 Escudo - Carlos III

Carlos III's monetary reform of 1772 replaced the cob ("macuquina") coinage that had dominated Spanish colonial mints for over two centuries. Lima was among the first American mints to implement the new milled portrait coinage — the "busto" series — which was mandated in part to combat widespread clipping and counterfeiting that had eroded confidence in Spanish colonial gold across European trade networks.

The Lima mint used the assayer initials struck into the coin to assign accountability for fineness. Pieces from this transitional decade occasionally show doubled assayer marks where responsibility changed mid-year.