America

Spanish colonial silver from Potosí and Lima

For three centuries, the silver of the Americas flowed into the world economy through Spanish colonial mints. The oldest coin in this category is an 8 reales 1659 from Potosí in present-day Bolivia, the great silver mountain of the Spanish empire. Coins like this are known as cobs: they were hand-struck on irregular pieces of silver cut from a bar, so no two look alike. After a scandal over debased coins at Potosí in the late 1640s, the mint introduced in 1652 a new design with the Pillars of Hercules above the waves of the sea. The 8 reales, the famous piece of eight, became a trade coin used far beyond the Spanish world.

By the late 1700s, colonial coins were struck by machine and had a round, regular shape. The 2 reales 1805 from Lima in Peru carries the portrait of the Spanish king Charles IV, from the last decades before the colonies won their independence.

Coins from the independent republics and the empire of Brazil

After independence, the new states struck their own coins. The category has a 4 soles 1858 from the Republic of Bolivia and a 500 réis 1861 from the Empire of Brazil under Emperor Pedro II. From the United States there is a half dollar 1858 of the Seated Liberty type, the design used on American silver coins for much of the nineteenth century.

What should you look for?

For cobs, collectors look for a clear date, a visible mint mark and assayer’s initial, and as much of the design as possible on the often irregular flan. For later machine-struck coins, wear on the high points of the portrait or figure, the sharpness of the strike and an original, uncleaned surface are decisive. Each coin is described with its condition and catalogue reference.

For paper money from the same part of the world, see American banknotes, or browse gold coins from around the world.