4 Reales - Felipe V

Felipe V inherited the Spanish throne through the War of Spanish Succession, a conflict that dragged on until 1714 and left royal finances severely strained. The Mexico City mint was under enormous pressure to maintain silver output throughout this period, feeding both Iberian war debts and transatlantic trade networks that ran on macuquina coinage by weight rather than face value. These cob-struck pieces were already an anachronism by the 1710s — the Madrid reform debates that would eventually mandate milled coinage were well underway, making this type transitional in a very concrete administrative sense.

The KM#R40 designation flags this as a cob issue, hand-cut from silver bar stock and hammer-struck — a method the Mexico City mint had used since 1535.