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4 Reales - Ferdinand VI
| Issuer | Casa de Moneda de Potosí |
|---|---|
| Year | 1747-1760 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 4 Reales |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Crowned cross of Jerusalem occupying the central field, with the four quarters displaying the heraldic lions and castles of Castile and León in a pattern consistent with mid-18th century Potosí macuquina coinage. Pellets and partial legend segments are visible in the surrounding field, with the mint mark P for Potosí and the date partially discernible at the lower portion of the flan. The irregular outline of the cob flan causes portions of the design and surrounding legend to be off-flan, as is characteristic of this issue. The crowned cross is boldly struck relative to the flan size. |
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| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Additional information |
The Potosí mint, operating at over 13,000 feet in the Bolivian altiplano, supplied the bulk of silver coinage moving through Spanish colonial trade networks during Ferdinand VI's reign. These cob-style pieces — the macuquinas struck under his name — were produced from hand-hammered planchets cut from silver bars, a method already considered archaic by mid-eighteenth century European standards but maintained at Potosí due to the sheer volume demands of the colonial economy.
Ferdinand VI himself took no particular interest in colonial monetary administration; the practical decisions fell to the Casa de Moneda's assayers, whose initials appear on the coins and whose accountability — sometimes enforced by prosecution — was the primary quality control mechanism.