4 Escudos - Felipe V

Felipe V was briefly king twice — he abdicated in 1724 in favor of his son Luis I, then reclaimed the throne seven months later when Luis died of smallpox. These cob-style gold pieces from his first reign were struck at Mexico City during a period when the Spanish Crown was still fighting the War of the Spanish Succession, and colonial remittances in gold were critical to funding that conflict. The macuquina coinage of this period is notoriously irregular, hand-cut from cast bars and hammered between crude dies.

KM#R55 designates a royal presentation strike, distinguished from ordinary circulation cobs by sharper die definition and more complete design rendering.