2 Reales - Carlos II

Carlos II reigned for 35 years despite being so physically and cognitively impaired by Habsburg inbreeding that contemporaries doubted he could govern at all — power effectively rested with a succession of regents and court factions. The Mexico City mint operated continuously through his reign, producing cob coinage ("macuquinas") in this denomination as the primary circulating silver of the Spanish colonial economy, moving through trade networks stretching from Manila to Seville.

The assayer's initial on these pieces changed several times across the three-decade span, offering the primary tool for narrowing a specific example's date of issue within the reign.