Philip IV Counterstamped 7-1/2 Reales ND (1651-1652)-P VF30 NGC, Potosi mint, KM-C19.2, Cal-Type 327. 26.34gm. 43mm. Countermark (C/S VF Weak) Crown on (host) 8 Reales KM19b. A survivor from the great transition of the Potosi mint, an extensive monetary reform held in the mid 1600's due to the massive corruption scheme known as the "Potosi Scandal". Organized by the assayer's and other mint workers, the plan was to reduce the purity of the coins, with the thief's keeping the remaining silver for themselves. The impacts were immense, to even shake Spain's reputation with the Asian trade, where merchants trusted profusely the Spanish Cob's silver quality. A transition of coinages occurred, full of unsuccessful attempts to uniformize the currency, one of them being the countermarking of the scandal coins with Crowned letters (or crowns alone), reducing the 8 Reales to 7 1/2 Reales. To set in stone the "New Potosi mint", a new style of Cobs was created (Pillars and Waves) and the scandal coins, countermarked or not, were to be re-melted/destroyed. Few survived, most of them being salvaged from the Capitana or Maravillas shipwrecks. The example offered is an elusive problem-free piece, showing a large flan with a partial date and bearing the second finest grade recorded by NGC. From the Gonzaga Collection

HID09801242017

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