^Lot 205 Potosi, Bolivia, cob 8 reales, 1649 O/sR (rare), king's name as PHILIPVS (with I instead of E), with

Potosi, Bolivia, cob 8 reales, 1649 O/sR (rare), king's name as PHILIPVS (with I instead of E), with crown-alone countermark (rare variety) on cross, ex-Mastalir (Plate). S-P35; KM-19b; Cal-unl. 25.33 grams. Broad flan with edge-crack, minimal surface corrosion, full but weak shield with very clear O/sR to left and denomination 8 to right, good full cross with very bold and nearly full countermark near center, bottom of 6 and 9 of date, toned in crevices. The mysterious under-assayer sR is only known over-struck by O (and only in 8R except for a single-known 1R--see lot 451 of this auction) and was apparently concurrent with O/Z for the changeover from Zambrano to Rodas, who most likely realized an "sR" for his name was too similar to the plain R for the fraudster Ramirez de Arellano (who was eventually executed). Pedigreed to the Robert Mastalir Collection and plated on page 47 of Part A and page 308 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 Herman Moro certificate LC01-351.Recovered from: Capitana, sunk in 1654 off Chanduy, Ecuador.