Watch List notes:

Potosi, Bolivia, cob 8 reales, 1649 O/sR (rare), with crowned-L countermark on cross, ex-Mastalir (Plate). S-P35; KM-19b; Cal-unl. 27.64 grams. Hefty coin (overweight, uncorroded) in oblong shape with some weak strike but otherwise full shield and cross, the former with very bold full assayer O/sR and the latter with full countermark and bold date rendered as ANO9 from a rotated double-strike (Mastalir considers it a die error) corresponding with a rotated doubling of the shield on the other side, nicely toned in crevices. (See lot 205 for explanation of this over-assayer.) Pedigreed to the Robert Mastalir Collection and plated on page 44 of Part A and page 137 of Part B of his books The Great Transition at the Potosi Mint, 1649-1652: The 1649-1652 Crowned Shield Coinage and the Countermarks of 1652 (2021), with original (generic) Herman Moro certificate.Recovered from: Capitana, sunk in 1654 off Chanduy, Ecuador.

Estimate: $350 - $500