1776 Bolivian Piece of Eight

Of the 3 coins posted on this page, you can see the mint mark on 2 of them.
The mark is there between the word REX and the denomination 8R.
On the 1808 , the mark is an M with a little o over it. That stands for Mexico City, which is the home of the oldest working mint in the Americas. Spain conquered the Aztecs and Monteczuma in Mexico and progressively moved South into South America and, except for a few areas on the Atlantic Coast controlled by the French, the English and Dutch, and Brazil controlled by the Portuguese, the Spanish colonized virtually all of the rest, including Peru and what became known as Bolivia. Because there were lots of silver mines in the area, Spain established local mints to turn silver ore into coins which were more transportable.
The OP's 1778 coin has the mint mark in the same location between REX and the 8R. However, on this coin, the mark is a monogram of stylized letters PTS which stands for the Potosi mint in what is now Bolivia. At that time, Bolivia was simply a colony of Spain.
Kiwiti, above, is correct with that info. Alto Peru simply means " the Other Peru ". Edit : or maybe "High Peru". (my Spanish isn't that good. lol )

There is interesting information about these coins at this link :
coins.pl

 

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I almost forgot that I owed you a photo. And the realization that mine is a 4 Real. Not an 8!

 

An interesting piece, nonetheless! Looks like I'm still on my hunt for the Mexico City 1778/8 8 reales.

 

Wow, im kind of embarrassed, just realized I typed 1776 and not 1778. FACEPALM.

 

Ahhh.... I wouldn't worry about that. It's a date that is so ingrained in our psyche that it's easy to do. I think everyone understood.

 

Always liked that coin. Picked it up in an old ANACS holder and it was dark brown. When I gave it an acetone soak and a q-tip treatment, I was shocked to see how much crud came off. Must have been in a smoker's home before having been encapsulated. The coin underneath still had quite a bit of lustre.

Now, for the Potosi 1778, it could be original but I have lots of red flags.