Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
8 Reales - Philip V
| Issuer | Casa de la Moneda de Potosí |
|---|---|
| Year | 1729-1746 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Crowned quartered shield of Castile and León at center, displaying alternating castles and lions within the four quarters, all encircled by an ornate tressure. The denomination numeral '8' appears above the shield at twelve o'clock, flanked by the mintmark 'P' (for Potosí) to the left and assayer's initial 'M' to the right. The date, partially visible, is struck below the shield. The entire device is surrounded by a beaded or rope border characteristic of cob coinage, with the irregular flan shape typical of macuquina (cob) production. A hole is noted to the left of the shield, suggesting later use as a pendant. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Bold Greek cross with fleurs-de-lis terminating each arm divides the field into four quadrants, each containing a segment of the motto 'PLVS VLTRA' — the Pillars of Hercules motto of the Spanish Crown — reading across the horizontal bar. The denomination '8' is prominently struck at the center of the cross. The assayer's initial 'M' appears in the upper right quadrant and mintmark 'P' in the upper left, with additional initials 'N' and 'P' in the lower quadrants. The reverse is framed by a wreath or foliate border consistent with the macuquina cob style, and the flan exhibits the irregular, hand-cut edges characteristic of the period. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Potosí's cob coinage — the so-called "macuquinas" — was at the center of one of colonial Spanish America's most damaging mint scandals. Between roughly 1649 and 1652, assayers at Potosí were systematically issuing underweight and debased silver, a fraud that reached the Spanish crown and resulted in executions, the destruction of dies, and a recall of coins across the empire. Philip V's reforms of the early eighteenth century were partly a long institutional response to that crisis, tightening assay controls and pushing toward the milled coinage that would eventually replace cobs entirely by 1773.
The "R" in KM#R31 denotes the royal presentation strikes — specially selected planchets struck for dispatch to Madrid as muestras, official samples sent to the crown to certify that the mint was operating to standard.