Catalog
8 Reales - Philip IV
| Issuer | Casa de Moneda de Potosí |
|---|---|
| Year | 1649-1652 |
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| Composition | Silver (.859) |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central cross of Jerusalem with flared terminals divides the field into four quarters, each adorned with lions and castles in alternating arrangement within a quadrilobe or tressure border. A royal crown surmounts the upper portion of the cross. The partial circumscribed Latin legend ET INDIARVM REX runs along the periphery, characteristically incomplete owing to the irregular shape of the hammered cob flan. The overall execution reflects the hand-struck macuquina technique typical of Potosí production during the reign of Philip IV. |
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| Reverse lettering | 8 / ET INDIARVM REX |
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| Additional information |
These are the macuquina — cob coinage — struck at Potosí during one of the most dramatic fraud scandals in colonial monetary history. Between 1634 and 1652, assayers at the Potosí mint were systematically debasing silver, producing coins well below the mandated fineness. The conspiracy ran for nearly two decades before Philip IV's viceroy ordered a full investigation in 1648. The implicated assayers were executed, and all debased coinage was officially recalled and demonetized across Spanish territories.
Coins struck in the years immediately following the crackdown — this piece's date range — carry assayer marks from the post-scandal oversight period.