8 Escudos - Charles III

Charles III's monetary reforms of the 1770s pushed Potosí toward milled coinage after decades of the hand-struck macuquina style that had plagued colonial commerce with chronic weight fraud. The transition was not smooth — Potosí's high-altitude location and chronic labor shortages made consistent die alignment a persistent problem, and pieces from the early years of this issue frequently show off-center strikes that would be condemned as errors on any European product.

The assayer initial on each piece identifies the individual responsible for the gold's fineness — a system of personal accountability that occasionally ended careers when substandard metal was traced back to a specific mark.