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8 Reales - Charles IV
| Issuer | Casa de Moneda de Potosí |
|---|---|
| Year | 1789-1790 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | The crowned Royal Arms of Spain occupy the central field, displaying the quartered shield with the castles of Castile and lions of León, with the Bourbon fleur-de-lis escutcheon at the centre point. The shield is flanked on either side by the Pillars of Hercules, each surmounted by a crown, representing the Strait of Gibraltar. The assayer initial 'S' appears to the left of the shield and the mint mark 'P' for Potosí is visible at upper left alongside the denomination mark '8R'. The circumferential legend reads HISPAN ET IND REX, with the value designation · B · 8R · P · appearing in the left field. |
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| Additional information |
Charles IV's accession in December 1788 created a brief transition window during which Spanish colonial mints were required to produce coinage bearing the new king's cipher while portrait dies were still being engraved and approved in Madrid. The Potosí mint, operating at over 13,000 feet elevation in what is now Bolivia, was among the busiest silver producers in the world at the time — feeding Spanish imperial finances directly from the Cerro Rico ore that had been worked since 1545.
The 1789–1790 date range on this type reflects that transitional production gap before standardized portrait coinage took over. Assayer marks from this period at Potosí are critical to attribution; the specific assayer initial present here will determine precisely where within that window this piece was struck.