1 Escudo - Carlos IV

Carlos IV ascended the Spanish throne in December 1788, and the Lima mint was required to update its coinage to reflect the new monarch before the year's dies were exhausted — hence the compressed three-year window of this type. The transition issues of 1789 are particularly interesting because some were struck using portrait punches prepared before the king's physical appearance was well-documented in the colonies, resulting in likenesses that bear closer resemblance to his father, Carlos III.

Lima's assayer marks during this period shifted between multiple officials, and attributing individual pieces to specific assayers remains one of the more contested areas of Colonial Peruvian gold.