2 Reales - Charles III Obverse Trial

Trial pieces — pruebas — from the Mexico City Mint are extraordinarily rare survivors of an internal approval process that left almost no paper trail. This particular piece precedes the authorized milled coinage reform that Charles III had been pushing through his American mints during the late 1760s, part of a broader Bourbon effort to standardize colonial currency and eliminate the old macuquina cob coinage that had plagued commerce with inconsistent weights and finishes. White metal strikes of this type were working impressions, not presentation pieces — used to check die alignment and relief before committing to silver production.