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8 Escudos - Carlos IV
| Issuer | Casa de Moneda de Potosí |
|---|---|
| Year | 1791-1808 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 8 Escudos (128) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Draped and armored bust of King Carlos IV facing right, rendered in high relief in the neoclassical portrait style characteristic of late Spanish colonial coinage. The king's hair is tied with a ribbon at the nape. The circumferential legend reads CAROL · IIII · D · G · HISP · ET IND · R ·, with the date 1802 positioned in the lower exergual area. The field is smooth and the design is contained within a beaded inner border. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
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| Edge | Milled |
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| Additional information |
The Potosí mint operated at over 4,000 meters elevation in what is now Bolivia, drawing on the silver wealth of Cerro Rico — but the gold for these escudos traveled a different route entirely, sourced largely from alluvial deposits in New Granada and carried overland before striking. Carlos IV's reign coincided with the Napoleonic disruptions that would ultimately strangle the supply lines feeding Potosí, and production of the 8 escudos grew erratic after 1804 as the Crown's financial position deteriorated and bullion flows became unreliable.
The assayer initial on each piece determines its precise window of production within this seventeen-year span.