Catalog
4 Escudos - Carlos III portrait
| Issuer | Lima Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 1772-1784 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Coin alignment ↑↓ |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The crowned quartered arms of Spain occupy the center of the field, displaying the castles of Castile and lions of León in the principal quarters, with the pomegranate of Granada at the base, and a small escutcheon of the Bourbons (fleur-de-lis) at the fess point. The shield is surmounted by the royal crown. The denomination numeral 4 appears to the left of the shield and the assayer initial S to the right. The entire central device is encircled by an ornate wreath of laurel and oak, and the circumferential legend reads AUSPICE DEO IN UTROQ FELIX, separated by dots, with the mint mark LIMAE and assayer initials MI appearing at the base. |
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| Edge | Milled |
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| Additional information |
Carlos III's 1772 monetary reform replaced the cob ("macuquina") coinage with milled portrait coinage across Spanish American mints — a standardization effort driven as much by Crown frustration with chronic short-weighting and fraud as by Enlightenment aesthetics. Lima was among the first colonial mints brought into compliance. The transition was not smooth; early Lima strikes from 1772–1773 show inconsistent die alignment as workers adapted to the new machinery and exacting flan preparation the portrait type demanded.
KM#81 encompasses assayer mark variations worth distinguishing — the JM and MJ combinations reflect different assayer pairings across the production window.