Potosi, high in the Andes, sat below the Cerro Rico, the richest silver mountain ever found, and for two centuries its mint supplied much of the world’s silver, mined by forced indigenous labour. This 1807 coin was struck the year before Napoleon forced Charles IV to give up the Spanish throne.
Castings, Coins, KM
KM-974-Gold-SS 1807 Potosi 8 Reales of Charles IV in Silver Bezel
$29.75
Gold overlay casting pendant. Obverse: draped laureate bust of Charles IV facing right, CAROLUS IIII DEI GRATIA 1807. Reverse: crowned Spanish arms between the Pillars of Hercules, HISPAN ET IND REX, PTS monogram, 8R and PJ. This version is a gold overlay casting set in a hand-formed sterling silver bezel. Inscriptions explained: CAROLUS IIII DEI GRATIA 1807 is Latin for ‘Charles IV, by the Grace of God, 1807’. HISPAN ET IND REX is short for ‘Hispaniarum et Indiarum Rex’, ‘King of the Spains and the Indies’. PTS is the monogram of the Potosi mint, 8R means 8 reales, and PJ are the initials of the assayers.
