Catalog
8 Reales - Ferdinand VII Countermark on Bolivia 8 Soles
| Issuer | Philippines |
|---|---|
| Year | 1828 |
| Type | Emergency coin |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Reverse face of the Bolivian host coin bearing the Manila Type I countermark at center, enclosed within a serrated circular border. The legends and design of the underlying Bolivian 8 Soles host coin — struck at the Potosi mint in 1827 — remain partially legible in the surrounding field, including fragments of the constitutional legend reading CONSTITUCION. The countermark prominently displays MANILA above the date 1828, confirming the year of validation. The serrated rim of the applied stamp is clearly defined against the worn surface of the host coin. |
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| Additional information |
Spain authorized the countermarking of South American silver for circulation in the Philippines because locally struck coinage was chronically insufficient to meet demand. Bolivian 8 Soles of this period, minted at Potosí, were among the most commonly countermarked hosts — the same mountain that had supplied Spanish colonial silver for nearly three centuries continued feeding the monetary supply of Pacific territories well into the republican era.
The countermark itself was applied by Philippine authorities to validate foreign silver as legal tender, a practice that persisted across multiple reigns. Potosí's assayer marks and mint letter combination on the host coin are often the more useful diagnostic for dating the specific planchet beneath the stamp.