Rare 8 Reales cob coin
€600
available
Object number
AR3169M57
| Value: |
8 Reales (piece of eight)
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| Material: |
Silver
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| Details: |
Diameter: 35 mm, weight: 26.59 g. Peru, Lima, 1717 (Philipp V.) |
| Obverse: |
Legend around / between colums
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| Reverse: |
Cross with four symbols (2x castle, 2x lion) Date 1717 very clearly struck and well legible |
| Condition |
Fine to very fine, nice condition for a cob coin
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| Cob coins: |
Coins of this type are referred to as "cob coins" in literature. Their production started in 1572, to export silver from the colonies to Spain. The main target was to control the weight of the exported silver, so to accelerate the process the silver bars were cut into pieces which should have the same weight and coined using the hammer strike method. If a coin resulted too heavy, it was simply cut to the right weight. Since the cob coins were melted once again after they had reached Spain, their appearance and quality of coinage had low priority only. However, they soon became the first global currency, known and accepted in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas as "peso de ocho reales" or "pieces of eight.
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| Reference: |
KM 34. Rare.
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| Provenance: |
Acquired 2021 at a German auction house.
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| Authenticity: |
We unconditionally guarantee the authenticity of every artefact, all items are subject to our lifetime return policy on authenticity.
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