GENERAL DESIGN CONCEPT :

Obverse : Crowned hemispheres between crowned Pillars of Hercules. Inscription VTRAQUE VNUM (Union of two worlds), with mint marks at 4- & 8-o'clock, and year of mintage at the bottom. Reverse : Crowned quarter arms of Castile and Leon bearing the Bourbon crest in center, "8" to the right and assayer's initial to the left. Inscription [monarch's name]·D·G·HISPAN·ET IND·REX* ([monarch's name], by the grace of God, King of Spain and the indies/colonies). The mint of Potosi started minting coins in 1574, taking advantage of its huge silver deposits discovered in 1545.  Potosi (now part of modern-Bolivia) was one of the main cultural and commercial centers of the Viceroyalty of El Peru. Bolivia or Upper Peru in 1559 was part of the Peru until 1776 when it was transferred to the  Vice-Royalty of Rio de la Plata (Argentina). Potosi is the last colonial mint to abandon the macuquina series. It only started striking the Pillars in 1767. The coins have silver fineness of .916 (11 dineros). Average coin diameter is 37 mm.

VARIANTS	Other No System		Sample Lot		Remarks
	Elizondo	Calbeto	Patterson	Amat
67-JR-3	DESIGN VARIATION CODE : -2 OBVERSE : "PTS" monogram mintmark with 4-petal rosette on both sides;  "VTRA QUE" in two words with "QUE" occupying the top center of the obverse; large main crown with incomplete lower ellipse; royal crowns on both pillars. There are die variation on the placement of the tip of the left crown in relation to the inscription "VTRAQUE", as well as the prominence of the lower ellipse of the main crown. REVERSE : inscription “CAROLUS·III·D·G·HISPAN·ETIND·REX” (no obvious space between "ET" and "IND"; assayer mark “JR”; the the tip of the cross (+) of the crowned crest fall between "H" and "IS"; bottom 6-petal rosette.
	Assayer "JR": Jose de Vargas y Flores and Raimundo de Iturriaga
	1	1229	-	4	KM# 50. Lot 1587 Superior Dec-1998 About 20 to 35 surviving specimens are known to still exist.
67-JR-31	DESIGN VARIATION CODE : -31 OBVERSE : same as above REVERSE : bottom 4-petal rosette.
	-	-	253	-	Lot 630 Iriarte
68-JR-3	3	1231	255	6	About 75 to 100 surviving specimens are known to still exist.
68-JR-3.d	-	-	-	-	d=no dot between "CAROLUS" and "III". Lot 631 Iriarte
68-JR-3.e	2	-	-	5	e=error in spelling : "VRTA" instead of "VTRA". About 2 to 5 surviving specimens are known to still exist.
68-JR-31	-	-	-	-	.
69-JR-31.d	-	-	257	-	regular or rounded/curved "9" d=no dot between "CAROLUS" and "III".  Lot 633 Iriarte. Relatively common variety with about 100+ specimens are known to still exist.
69/9-JR-31.d	-	-	-	-	regular "9" over fancy "9". d=no dot between "CAROLUS" and "III". see image. Lot 7 FLC Mar-1982. About 75 to 100 surviving specimens are known to still exist.
69-JR-31.f	5	1235	256	7	f=fancy "9". Lot 49 FLC Nov-1983 Relatively common variety with about 100+ specimens are known to still exist.
70-JR-311	DESIGN VARIATION CODE : -311 OBVERSE : same as above, except that the "PTS" monogram mintmark has dots "·" on both sides of the mintmark. REVERSE : same as above
	6	1238	262	9	Lot 2 LHRC#43 Relatively very common variety with about 1,000+ specimens are known to still exist.
70-JR-311.d	-	-	-	-	d=No dot between "CAROLUS" and "III". see image
70/69-JR-311	-	-	-	8	Lot 634 Iriarte About 35 to 50 surviving specimens are known to still exist.

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Copyright 1998.  JTChen (Philippines) and CJara (Chile)