1 Escudo - Charles IV

Charles IV's gold escudo coinage from Potosí was minted at one of the highest permanently inhabited cities on earth — over 4,000 meters above sea level in what is now Bolivia. The Casa de Moneda there had been refitted in the 1770s under Viceroy Toledo's successors specifically to handle increased silver output, but gold escudo production ran alongside it as a smaller, more politically visible operation. The assayer's initials struck into each piece allow precise attribution to individual officials who were personally liable for weight and fineness.

The 1791 start date coincides almost exactly with the news of Charles III's death reaching the colonial mints and new obverse dies being cut for his successor.