Carlos III's reform edicts of the 1760s were pushing colonial mints toward the new milled coinage, but Potosí resisted longer than most — the cob-style macuquerina production that had defined the mint since the 1570s was deeply entrenched in both labor practice and local commerce. This piece falls squarely in that transitional window, when both cob and milled types were being struck simultaneously and the assayers were under increasing Crown pressure to standardize.
Potosí sat at over 13,000 feet elevation, and the chronic labor disputes in the mita system during the late 1760s created irregular production runs. The assayer initials on pieces from this period are an essential dating tool within the window.
Carlos III's reform edicts of the 1760s were pushing colonial mints toward the new milled coinage, but Potosí resisted longer than most — the cob-style macuquerina production that had defined the mint since the 1570s was deeply entrenched in both labor practice and local commerce. This piece falls squarely in that transitional window, when both cob and milled types were being struck simultaneously and the assayers were under increasing Crown pressure to standardize.
Potosí sat at over 13,000 feet elevation, and the chronic labor disputes in the mita system during the late 1760s created irregular production runs. The assayer initials on pieces from this period are an essential dating tool within the window.