706

Potosi, Bolivia, cob 8 reales Heart, 1704Y, rare, cover coin on dust jacket of Calico.

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Cobs - Potosi Silver Start Price:25,000.00 USD Estimated At:25,000.00 - 50,000.00 USD
Potosi, Bolivia, cob 8 reales Heart, 1704Y, rare, cover coin on dust jacket of Calico.
SOLD
Sign In To View Winning Bid
This item SOLD at 2013 Oct 30 @ 17:39UTC-4 : AST/EDT
All items are genuine unless noted. Most shipwreck coins and artifacts come with a certificate of authenticity (please check the description for each item). By bidding in this auction you understand and agree to the Terms and Conditions posted here.
Potosi, Bolivia, cob 8 reales Heart, 1704Y, rare, cover coin on dust jacket of Calico. S-P43aCT-848. 27.11 grams. While this auction will go down in history for containing fourteen Royals, this Heart is much rarer and important, as it represents the ultimate in cob beauty, with the axes of the elegant pillars-and-waves and cross-lions-castles design perfectly aligned with the top stem and bottom point of the "heart" shape, which is an ancient Catholic symbol and therefore probably means Hearts like these were made specially for the Church (see http://www.sedwickcoins.com/articles/hearts.htm). The grandeur of such a shape in an 8-reales size is something to behold, far more impressive than the smaller denominations, which are many times more common (in fact, this the first 8R example we have offered at auction). This specimen grades at AXF, with nice old toning and no tooling or gilding, typically holed in the top of the stem; but the main attraction is the strike, which, while slightly doubled in places, was executed in such a way that the third date and the king's ordinal show clearly in the tail at the bottom while both crowns occupy the top stem, earning this lovely coin a place on the dust jacket of the current Numismatica espanola reference (Calico). Lazaro #320, but not a die-match, also significant as the first known date of 8R Hearts. Plated in color on the dust jacket of Calico's Numismatica espanola (2008).