Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
4 Reales - Philip III
| Issuer | Casa de la Moneda de Potosí |
|---|---|
| Year | 1596-1605 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Silver (.931) |
| 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 |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Crowned quartered shield of Castile and León, displaying alternating castles and lions within a tressure, set upon a cross pattée that divides the field into four quadrants. The irregular cob flan shows partial beaded border segments at the lower margin. Mint mark and assayer initial appear partially visible to the left of the shield, characteristic of Potosí cob coinage of this period. The overall strike is typical of macuquina production, with uneven flan edges and variable relief across the design. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Latin |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The Potosí mint was established in 1572 to process the extraordinary silver output of Cerro Rico, the mountain that effectively bankrolled the Spanish crown's European wars and colonial administration for over two centuries. By the time Philip III ascended in 1598, the mint was producing cobs — macuquinas — on an industrial scale, with quality control that was, charitably, inconsistent. This 4 reales denomination sat at the practical midpoint of everyday colonial commerce, too large for small transactions, too small for major merchant settlements.
The Potosí assayers of this period were later implicated in systematic fraud — systematically short-weighting cobs and pocketing the difference in silver. The scandal, which broke fully in 1649, cast retroactive suspicion on decades of output.