8 Soles

Bolivia's 8 soles of this period were struck at the Potosí mint, operating on the same mountain that had been hemorrhaging silver into global trade since the 1540s. By 1859 the Cerro Rico veins were measurably thinner than in their colonial peak, yet Potosí remained the monetary backbone of the Andean republics. These coins circulated widely into Chile and Peru, where domestic production was insufficient to meet commercial demand.

The .903 fineness reflects a standard Bolivia had been quietly debasing toward since independence — the colonial 8 reales ran at .896, so this represents a modest correction rather than a debasement. Production ended as Bolivia moved toward decimal coinage under the 1863 monetary reform.