The 1813 8 Reales from Potosí represents one of the earliest coinages struck under revolutionary authority in the Río de la Plata, issued just two years after the May Revolution of 1810 deposed the Spanish viceroy. The Potosí mint had operated under Spanish Crown control since 1572, and its capture by patriot forces in 1813 was considered essential — not merely symbolic — because the mountain beneath the city, Cerro Rico, was still the most productive silver source in the hemisphere.
Production was short-lived. Royalist forces retook Potosí later that same year, suspending patriot coinage until 1815.
The 1813 8 Reales from Potosí represents one of the earliest coinages struck under revolutionary authority in the Río de la Plata, issued just two years after the May Revolution of 1810 deposed the Spanish viceroy. The Potosí mint had operated under Spanish Crown control since 1572, and its capture by patriot forces in 1813 was considered essential — not merely symbolic — because the mountain beneath the city, Cerro Rico, was still the most productive silver source in the hemisphere.
Production was short-lived. Royalist forces retook Potosí later that same year, suspending patriot coinage until 1815.