Catalog
8 Reales - Felipe II
| Issuer | Casa de la Moneda de Lima |
|---|---|
| Year | 1568-1572 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Two crowned Pillars of Hercules rising from stylized waves, each surmounted by a crown and flanked by the motto PLVS VLTR(A) on scrolling banners; the mint mark 'P' for Lima appears between the crowns atop the pillars, and the denomination numeral '8' is displayed centrally between the column shafts at mid-field. The assayer's initials appear to either side of the pillars. The entire device is enclosed within a beaded inner circle, with the peripheral legend continuing the royal titulature around the irregularly shaped flan. |
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| Additional information |
Lima's earliest cob coinage was struck under the most chaotic minting conditions in the hemisphere. The assayers of this period — Alonso Rincón being the dominant figure in the late 1560s — worked without the standardized machinery that would later define colonial minting, producing coins cut and hammered from crudely rolled silver planchets. Weight accuracy was the only real legal requirement; shape was incidental.
Felipe II's 1566 ordinances nominally governed production, but enforcement at Lima lagged years behind Mexico City. Pieces from this narrow window predate the assayer accountability reforms that followed the 1572 viceroy Toledo inspection, which overhauled the entire operation.