1 Real - Carlos III Colonial Milled Coinage

Carlos III's monetary reform of 1772 replaced the cob ("macuquina") coinage that Spanish colonial mints had struck for nearly two centuries. Lima was one of the first American mints to transition to the new milled portrait coinage, and the early strikes from 1772–1773 are notably scarcer than later dates in the run — the machinery and dies required time to standardize after the changeover. The reform was driven less by aesthetics than by rampant counterfeiting and clipping of the old hammered issues.