8 Escudos - Felipe V

These cob-style ("macuquina") gold pieces were struck at the Santiago de Guatemala mint, one of the few New World mints authorized to produce gold coinage during the early Bourbon period. Production was chronically irregular — the mint's output depended heavily on gold supply from interior placers, which varied considerably year to year, and the assayers rotated frequently enough that attribution by assayer initial remains an active area of specialist study.

Felipe V's reign saw two distinct periods of kingship; he abdicated in 1724 in favor of his son Luis I, then reclaimed the throne after Luis died of smallpox just seven months later. Coins struck across this range require careful assayer and date attribution to place correctly within that timeline.