Catalog
1 Real Phillip IV
| Issuer | Casa de la Moneda de Potosí |
|---|---|
| Year | 1622 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Quartered shield displaying the arms of Castile (castles) and León (lions), with additional heraldic quarters, all within a rough irregular flan typical of cob coinage. The shield is struck in low relief with characteristic macuquin a-style flat die impression. A partial circular legend in Latin runs around the periphery of the shield, though much of it is typically off-flan due to the nature of hammered cob production. The overall design reflects the standard royal arms used on Spanish colonial silver coinage of the early seventeenth century. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
The 1622 date places this coin at one of the most catastrophic moments in Potosí's minting history. That year, a royal investigation exposed decades of systematic fraud at the mint — assayers and officials had been debasing silver coinage well below the legal fineness, pocketing the difference. The scandal implicated the highest levels of the mint's administration, and several officials were ultimately executed. Coins struck in the years immediately surrounding the investigation are considered suspect for fineness, though enforcement of the .931 standard improved sharply afterward.
The 8 Real cob of 1622 achieved enduring notoriety through the Atocha shipwreck. Smaller denominations from the same year share that provenance when recovered.