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1 Real - Philip IV
| Issuer | Casa de la Moneda de Potosí |
|---|---|
| Year | 1652 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Crowned quartered shield of the Spanish Royal Arms, displaying castles and lions in alternating quarters, struck in typical cob (macuquina) fashion with irregular planchet edges. The mint mark 'P' for Potosí appears to the left of the shield, with the assayer's initial visible alongside. Partial Latin legend surrounds the shield, though much of it falls off the irregular flan. The date 1652 is partially visible in the legend field, characteristic of the hurried production methods of the Potosí mint during this period. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
1652 is the year of the Santa Margarita and Nuestra Señora de Atocha disaster — but more consequentially for Potosí, it is the year the Spanish Crown discovered that the assayer Francisco de la Casa had been systematically debasing colonial silver for nearly a decade. The resulting scandal shuttered the mint entirely in mid-1652, with all assayers arrested and several executed. Coins struck in the months immediately before the closure carry the disgraced assayers' initials and were officially ordered recalled, though vast numbers remained in circulation.
The 1 Real cob from this mint and year sits at the center of that crisis.