8 Reales - Philip V

Philip V was the first Bourbon king of Spain, and his accession triggered the War of the Spanish Succession — a fourteen-year conflict that convulsed Europe while the Potosí mint continued striking silver from the Cerro Rico largely uninterrupted. The cob-style macuquina fabric of this issue, hand-struck on irregularly shaped planchets, was already considered archaic by European standards but remained the practical output of a high-altitude colonial mint processing enormous volumes of Andean silver.

Potosí's assayer initial appearing on the coin is the primary tool for dating within this reign's range, as dies were not systematically retired by year.