1/2 Real - Philip II

Philip II's 1572 establishment of the Potosí mint — deep in the Viceroyalty of Peru at over 13,000 feet elevation — was a direct response to the staggering output of Cerro Rico, the silver mountain that was effectively funding the Spanish Empire's wars in Europe. The cob-style macuquina coinage produced there, including this fractional denomination, was never meant to be aesthetically refined; it was struck to move metal fast, in bulk, across the Atlantic.

The assayer's mark on pieces from this early period is critical to attribution. MB#1.1 corresponds to the assayer "B" — Baltasar Ramos Leceta — whose tenure helps bracket this issue to the first decade of Potosí mint operation.