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<p>[QUOTE="robinjojo, post: 6474901, member: 110226"]When I began to collect world coinage, back in the late 1970's, I was drawn to the beauty, history and romance of the Spanish 8 reales. For the ensuing years I bought coins from Freeman Craig, Karl Stephens, Superior, Rick Ponterio and Sal Falcone, my local coin dealer in San Jose, California, to name a few.</p><p><br /></p><p>I collected both cob and milled coinage. The cobs, being mostly quite to very crude, have an appeal all their own. The pillar and portrait milled coinage was, in general, a vast improvement over the crude hammered coinage, with some emissions achieving remarkable beauty. Here is one such example, a coin that is generally available through auctions and retail price lists.</p><p><br /></p><p>Potosi, 1770</p><p>8 reales</p><p>Charles III</p><p>Assayer JR</p><p>Obverse: Crowned hemispheres, pillars on either side, with Plus Ultra banners, surrounding legend: UTRA QUE UNUM (Both are one), Potosi mint mark monograms, and florets and dots,</p><p>Reverse: The crowned shield of Castile and Leon, JR to the left, 8 to the right, surrounding legend: CAROLUS III D G HISPAN ET IND REX (Charles III, King of Spain and the Indies, by the grace of God).</p><p>KM 50</p><p>27.3 grams</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1258543[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>This coin, as well as the preceding hammer "cob" coinage, is an expression of Spain's hegemony over her colonies in Latin America and the Philippines, where these coins also circulated. Silver and gold were the lifeblood of Spain, flowing to her from Mexico and South America, to finance the costly wars she was engaged in over a period of over 300 years, as well as the profligate spending of the royal family and a bloated and corrupt bureaucracy. In the end, this dependence, as well as failure to use the wealth to develop her economy, helped to lead to the decline of Spain, and leading to the rise of the nation states of Northern Europe.</p><p><br /></p><p>Getting back to the coin, it is quite remarkable that this beautiful coin was produced at the same time as crude cob coinage. Indeed, 1770 was the last year for the milled pillar 8 reales at the Potosi Mint. Cob coinage continued through 1773. That year milled portrait coinage was initiated, continuing on through 1825, to be replaced by republican coinage by the newly independent Bolivia.</p><p><br /></p><p>Some numismatist theorize that the continuation of the cob coinage was motivated by the very nature of the hammered coinage: irregular shape, and an opportunity to produce lower weight coins, an endemic issue for this mint ever since the mint scandal of the mid 1600's, even earlier. However, another reason for the continuation of cob coinage could also be practical. The pillar dies were limited in number and costly to produce, while cob dies were more readily available and comparatively easier to create. Given Potosi's large output of silver, cob coinage could be viewed as an expedient to address the need to produce coinage quickly. As with many other things in history, the truth is likely somewhere in between these two views.</p><p><br /></p><p>The 1770 Potosi milled 8 reales has a few varieties. There is a somewhat rare over-date, 1770/69. My coin is also a variety, though of not any particular rarity, with a dot following CAROLUS on the reverse. The third variety lacks the dot after the king's name. This third variety is at the same level, at least in Krause's pricing, as the dot variety.</p><p><br /></p><p>As a type coin, for collectors who do not want to collect coins in this series by mint and date, the milled 1770 Potosi 8 reales fits the bill. The strikes are very good to excellent, the design is very appealing, and they do come up for sale from time to time. A high grade coin of this type would be hard to beat.</p><p><br /></p><p>I have numerous Spanish mainland and Spanish colonial coinage examples that I hope to be able to photograph and post in the future.</p><p><br /></p><p>Please feel free to post you Spanish coinage and anything else you wish.</p><p><br /></p><p>Thank you[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="robinjojo, post: 6474901, member: 110226"]When I began to collect world coinage, back in the late 1970's, I was drawn to the beauty, history and romance of the Spanish 8 reales. For the ensuing years I bought coins from Freeman Craig, Karl Stephens, Superior, Rick Ponterio and Sal Falcone, my local coin dealer in San Jose, California, to name a few. I collected both cob and milled coinage. The cobs, being mostly quite to very crude, have an appeal all their own. The pillar and portrait milled coinage was, in general, a vast improvement over the crude hammered coinage, with some emissions achieving remarkable beauty. Here is one such example, a coin that is generally available through auctions and retail price lists. Potosi, 1770 8 reales Charles III Assayer JR Obverse: Crowned hemispheres, pillars on either side, with Plus Ultra banners, surrounding legend: UTRA QUE UNUM (Both are one), Potosi mint mark monograms, and florets and dots, Reverse: The crowned shield of Castile and Leon, JR to the left, 8 to the right, surrounding legend: CAROLUS III D G HISPAN ET IND REX (Charles III, King of Spain and the Indies, by the grace of God). KM 50 27.3 grams [ATTACH=full]1258543[/ATTACH] This coin, as well as the preceding hammer "cob" coinage, is an expression of Spain's hegemony over her colonies in Latin America and the Philippines, where these coins also circulated. Silver and gold were the lifeblood of Spain, flowing to her from Mexico and South America, to finance the costly wars she was engaged in over a period of over 300 years, as well as the profligate spending of the royal family and a bloated and corrupt bureaucracy. In the end, this dependence, as well as failure to use the wealth to develop her economy, helped to lead to the decline of Spain, and leading to the rise of the nation states of Northern Europe. Getting back to the coin, it is quite remarkable that this beautiful coin was produced at the same time as crude cob coinage. Indeed, 1770 was the last year for the milled pillar 8 reales at the Potosi Mint. Cob coinage continued through 1773. That year milled portrait coinage was initiated, continuing on through 1825, to be replaced by republican coinage by the newly independent Bolivia. Some numismatist theorize that the continuation of the cob coinage was motivated by the very nature of the hammered coinage: irregular shape, and an opportunity to produce lower weight coins, an endemic issue for this mint ever since the mint scandal of the mid 1600's, even earlier. However, another reason for the continuation of cob coinage could also be practical. The pillar dies were limited in number and costly to produce, while cob dies were more readily available and comparatively easier to create. Given Potosi's large output of silver, cob coinage could be viewed as an expedient to address the need to produce coinage quickly. As with many other things in history, the truth is likely somewhere in between these two views. The 1770 Potosi milled 8 reales has a few varieties. There is a somewhat rare over-date, 1770/69. My coin is also a variety, though of not any particular rarity, with a dot following CAROLUS on the reverse. The third variety lacks the dot after the king's name. This third variety is at the same level, at least in Krause's pricing, as the dot variety. As a type coin, for collectors who do not want to collect coins in this series by mint and date, the milled 1770 Potosi 8 reales fits the bill. The strikes are very good to excellent, the design is very appealing, and they do come up for sale from time to time. A high grade coin of this type would be hard to beat. I have numerous Spanish mainland and Spanish colonial coinage examples that I hope to be able to photograph and post in the future. Please feel free to post you Spanish coinage and anything else you wish. Thank you[/QUOTE]
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