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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 |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Crowned quartered shield of the Spanish royal arms, displaying castles and lions in alternating quarters, struck on an irregular cob flan characteristic of macuquina coinage. The central charge is flanked by partial legends in the field, with the denomination mark and assayer initial partially visible at the periphery. The overall design reflects the standard Potosí cob type of the mid-18th century, with the strike quality and flan shape typical of hand-hammered silver production. Portions of the surrounding tressure and crown are visible where the flan permits. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
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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.