10-21-2008, 08:21 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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| Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: FL, USA
Posts: 16
|  Numismatic rarity: 50 Reales
I think this is a very interesting coin to share with the forum. You do not see these every day.
here some info: Segovia, 50 reales cincuentín, Philip IV, 1626, assayer cross-topped A. Reference: CT-239. Cay-6584. Weight: 170.0 grams. Among the many "trophies" of the long and varied Spanish numismatic series are the massive 50 reales or "cincuentines" (known in their time as "monedas excelentes"), effectively the largest Spanish silver coins ever struck, made in very limited quantities throughout the 1600s. The concept appears to have been initiated (or at least encouraged) by the needs of rich Sevillan merchants who were presenting massive quantities of silver (presumably from Peru) to the mint all at once. To make such huge coins required the state-of-the-art technology of a hydraulic steam-press and special roller dies (cuños de rodillo), invented in Germany in the late 1500s and installed in a special mint in Segovia called the Real Ingenio. Very rare and special in their own time, these 50-reales coins are mainly seen at museums. This 1626 specimen is arguably the most common date by virtue of the fact that it had the highest mintage of 300 pieces (of which fewer than 20 are known to exist today), all made for the Marqués de Liche over the course of three weeks, from July 8 to July 28.  |
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