In all its “crispness” of strike and “butter gold” beauty, this 27.1 g. piece from the fated Spanish treasure fleet of 1715 must be seen in a color photo or in-person for full appreciation! A fully-dated 1714 8-escudos from the Mexico City mint, its obverse exhibits a full shield, a 99.44% (essentially full) crown, and a fully readable legend. This coin misses being a “royal” by only an “nth” of an inch of diameter. Maybe the intention was to make it a royal, as many of the devices used on presentation pieces of this period were used to sink the dies used. The shield is flanked by oMJ and VIII, each of which is bracketed by four-lobed florets, which are also used as punctuation in the legend. The obverse legend plainly reads: PHILIPPVS v V v DEI v G v 1714 v … continuing on the reverse: HISPANIARVM v ET v INDIARVM v REX v.
It is on the reverse that the “royal” association is most apparent, as this piece was struck with the “cross intended for presentation pieces.” The quatrefoil tressure surrounding the cross potent displays the wider and textured lobes as on “royals”, while what appear to be “floral darts” are positioned outside at each of the lobe junctions.
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Credits: Photos by Mike Brown, Lab Work by Augi Garcia.
