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Bolivia: Philip IV "Consolación" Cob 8 Reales 1652 P-E-HP XF (Saltwater Effect),...
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$600.00
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Description
Philip IV "Consolación" Cob 8 Reales 1652 P-E-HP XF (Saltwater Effect), Potosi mint, KM-A20.7, Cal-1496. 7.43gm. Accompanied by COA. Salvaged from the "Consolación" (sunk in 1681 off Santa Clara, Ecuador). Thin from corrosion but still exhibiting all variety ID-features, this survivor from the Potosi Scandal presents well in hands.Organized by the assayers and other mint workers, the plan behind the "Potosi Scandal" was to reduce the purity of their coins while the thieves kept the remaining silver for themselves. The impacts were immense, even shaking Spain's reputation with the Asian trade, where merchants had the upmost trust for 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.
The Consolación, also known as the Isla de Muerto shipwreck, was intended to be a part of the Spanish "South Seas Fleet" that left Lima's port of Callao in April of 1681. However, the Consolación was delayed and was forced to travel without the support of a fleet. At the Gulf of Guayaquil, English pirates would cause the vessel to collide with reefs and sink off Santa Clara Island. This island is nicknamed "Isla de los Muertos", or Dead Man Island, as the topography resembles a corpse. The Spanish would then burn the ship as to not give its resources to the pursuing pirates as the crew escaped to a nearby island. The attempts to recover the treasure would prove unsuccessful until vast amounts of silver coins were uncovered in the 1990s. Salvaging continued between locals and the government of Ecuador, eventually bringing 8,000 Potosí silver cobs to an auction titled "Treasures from the 'Isla de Muerto'" by Spink New York in December of 2001. It is believed that many more coins and artifacts are waiting to be discovered as the official manifest of the Consolación recorded 146,000 pesos in silver coins with gold and silver ingots - not to mention the value in undocumented contraband.
Metal: Silver
Auction Info
2024 March 17 - 18 Spotlight: Shipwreck & Treasure World Coins Showcase Auction #61364 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
March, 2024
17th-18th
Sunday-Monday
Internet/Mail Bids: 12
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 266
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
20% of the successful bid per lot.
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