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#1806: 8 Reales (1622) Cartagena. 24.074 grams / gramos.
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Obverse: Early style Habsburg shield with small escutcheon of Portugal superimposed on the arms of Castile and Leon. Assayer A visible to right of shield. The RN mint mark for Cartagena is not visible, it would be to the left of the shield. Reverse: Arms of Castile & Leon, arranged in a cross. R/L M8-1, L/R M8S-1, C&T Type 45A No.112a. Anverso: Reverso: |
| The coin illustrated here, #1806, was recovered from the Atocha, in 1985, artifact number TSI-85A-237559. This coin is very similar to, in fact the obverse may be from the same die as, coin # 33 illustrated on page 2036 of Harris [1]. Other specimens of this type show a clear ordinal III for Philip III and a clear date of 1622, which rules out Iberian mints (Spain proper) because Philip III died in 1621 and the Spanish mints switched over to Philip IIII in 1621. There is no pomegranate at the bottom nor in the center of the shield, which excludes origin at Santa Fe de Bogotá mint. The obverse die is identical to C&T 45a, 1998 ed. See the die scratch lines between the P and H, between I and L (below the A), above the I and into the A, and short line above the A. Note also the exact position of each letter. Note the thick edges on the shield. Interesting to see is the circle scratch used by the die sinker to align the letter punches. |
