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Potosi, Bolivia, cob 8 reales Royal (galano), 1630T, x-shaped ornaments, very rare first known date

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Cobs - Potosi Silver Start Price:8,000.00 USD Estimated At:10,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD
Potosi, Bolivia, cob 8 reales Royal (galano), 1630T, x-shaped ornaments, very rare first known date
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This item SOLD at 2018 Nov 02 @ 20:25UTC-4 : AST/EDT
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Potosi, Bolivia, cob 8 reales Royal (galano), 1630T, x-shaped ornaments, very rare first known date of Potosi Royals, Lazaro Plate Coin. S-P26; KM-R19a; CT-388. 26.60 grams. A truly grand piece of art, with all details full and bold on a very broad, round, even flan, in blatant contrast to the regular issues even for this typically choice date. Curiously, there are fleury-cross ornaments (which Paoletti refers to as St. Andrews crosses) between the P and T and above and below the denomination 8, which began late in this year and ceased (at least as x's) in 1631, distinguishing this issue from other 1630 Royal 8R without those ornaments (also differentiated by the recumbent position of the 6 in the date on our specimen). A small punch-mark can be seen below the cross, with a neatly drilled hole below the assayer, grading XF with toning around details and traces of gilding. This jewel of a coin is shown as just a rubbing in Lazaro, who gave it a rating of RX (<3 known), and was recently featured in the Cayon auction of January 2018 (lot 5022) with a long article (translated into English by Herman Blanton and published in NI Bulletin, Vol. 53, No. 9/10, September/October 2018) concerning the origin of cob coinage at Potosi and the genesis of "Royal" coinage. As is well known by now, the term "Royal" is a misnomer, as there is no evidence that these coins were struck for the King, and a term found in contemporary documents--galano--appears to refer to these special issues as well as Hearts. What is still unknown, however, is why these coins were made, and why they were made in differing quantities at apparently random times in certain years. The first Royals were made in Mexico just before the year 1600; the 1630 Royals of Potosi, like this one, were the first to be struck at Potosi and in fact in all of South America.