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Silver Cobs of Potosi,
1574-1773
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Bolivian silver cobs
 When
it comes to silver cobs, no mint was more prolific than Potosi, Bolivia, where
an entire mountain of silver was discovered in the early 1500s. It took a little
while before authorities figured out that a mint was needed on site, where the
silver was being mined, even though the extreme remoteness and elevation
presented major problems that were never fully resolved. The most egregious
problem, perhaps, was an almost lawless environment where silver barons
controlled the government and took full advantage by owning and profiting from
mint offices and even by debasing the silver itself, causing a major scandal
that put the entire world on its financial ear in the mid-1600s. Up to that
point Potosi struck shield-type cobs, some of which were then recalled and
either melted or countermarked (to attest to proper fineness) in 1652. To
rectify the whole system, a new design was begun in that year, starting with
some "transitional" issues and culminating in the pillars-and-waves design that
became a global mainstay again throughout the rest of the 1600s and most of the
1700s. In 1773 the last cob ever struck came off the press in Potosi, long since
superseded by milled coins (begun there in 1767).
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Shield type:
8 reales |
4 reales
| 2 reales
| 1 reales
| 1/2 reales
| 1/4 reales
Pillars-and-waves: 8 reales
| 4 reales
| 2 reales
| 1 reales
| 1/2 reales
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Potosi, Bolivia
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Shield type 8 reales
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Potosi, Bolivia, cob 8 reales, 1650 O, with crowned-arms (Mastalir Asb) countermark on cross, rare, Mastalir Plate.
S-P35; KM-19b; Cal-1488. 28.06 grams. Scarce type with finer-style shield details, as well as an improved castle and corrected spelling of king's name as PHILIPPVS with an I instead of an E, within which this is a rare subtype with modern 5 and dots between digits of date and single large dot after the date (here visible as just 5-dot-0-dot), also rare as non-salvage, with full but slightly doubled shield with clear P-O to left and 8-O to right, nearly full but off-center cross with deeply impressed countermark unusually somewhat removed from the edge, nicely toned VF. Pedigreed to the Roberto Mastalir Collection of Countermarked Potosi Cobs, Plate Coin (page 92 in Part A and page 62 in Part B) in his book The Great Transition at the Potosi Mint, 1649-1653, The 1649-1652 Crowned Shield Coinage and the Countermarks of 1652 (2021). |
g112104191017 |
$950 |
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Shield type 4 reales
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Potosi, Bolivia, cob 4 reales, (1649) O, crowned-? countermark on cross.
S-P35; KM-17b; Cal-1105. 12.18 grams. Full P-O to left of full but off-center shield, bottom half of cross visible (also off-center) with deep but unidentifiable countermark above and what appears to be a reverse impression of same on shield side, VG with deep toning all over, small edge-split. |
i112104191053 |
$325 |
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Shield type 2 reales
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Potosi, Bolivia, cob 2 reales, Philip III, assayer R (straight leg, no king's ordinal).
6.70 grams. Full shield and cross, interesting early version of assayer-mark that looks like a P-punch with straight, pointed leg added (a scarce but known variety, missing in Sellschopp), also no ordinal in legend after king's name, which ends in a retrograde S, VF with light toning and dark encrustation in crevices. |
g092013031006 |
SOLD
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Shield type 1 reales
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1/4 reales (Cuartillos)
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Potosi, Bolivia, cob
1/4 real, Philip II, assayer R (Rincon) to left, mintmark P to right, rare.
Broad flan but with small
pieces of edge missing, AVF with full castle and R-P. good full lion (tall,
standing), richly toned. |
g081504146019 |
$595 |
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Potosi, Bolivia, cob
1/4 real, Philip II, assayer B (5th period) to left, mintmark P to right,
border of boxes on obverse, rare.
Lightly corroded surfaces
(salvaged) but with clear B and lion. |
g081504146026 |
$495 |
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Potosi, Bolivia, cob
1/4 real, Philip II, assayer B (5th period) to left, mintmark P to right,
border of boxes on obverse, large castle, rare.
Thin from salvage but with
bold VF details (castle and lion, B-P), darkly toned. |
g081504146024 |
$495 |
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Transitional type |
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Pillars-and-waves 8 reales |
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Potosi, Bolivia, cob 8 reales, 1742 C.
S-P49; KM-31a; Cal-1583. 26.75 grams. VF with surface corrosion on the cross side, struck on a very uneven and crude planchet though nicely detailed with full pillars and partial cross plus two clear dates. |
g112104191054 |
$695 |
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Pillars-and-waves 4 reales
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Potosi, Bolivia, cob 4 reales, 1759 q.
S-P54; KM-39; Cal-416. 13.13 grams. Bold date above waves, with most of pillars and cross but both sides plagued by the usual surface roughness of this era (exacerbated by dark toning in crevices), crude edge as made, Fine+. |
g112104191022 |
$325 |
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Pillars-and-waves 2 reales
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Potosi, Bolivia, cob 2
reales, 1755q.
5.71 grams. Clear date, bold
assayer, toned but very worn (AVG). |
g071513031012 |
$65 |
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Pillars-and-waves 1 reales
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Potosi, Bolivia, cob 1
real, 1684V.
2.89 grams. Good full pillars
and cross, VF+ with hairline edge-split, three assayers. |
g061604191135 |
SOLD |
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Pillars-and-waves 1/2 reales
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Potosi, Bolivia, cob
1/2 real, (1654), P•H at top, 1/4R flan (unique).
Good cross, full crown above
P•H but monogram off the flan (poorly centered), very small flan (thin) that
appears to be for a 1/4 real (which did not exist this late), VF with light
toning. |
g081504146031 |
$395 |
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Daniel Frank
Sedwick, LLC - PO BOX 1964 | Winter Park, FL 32790 | Phone 407.975.3325 |
office@sedwickcoins.com |
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