Real Nice 1/2 Real

"Colonial ½R - affordable, huge variety, understudied, possible to complete (!), and make a contribution to numismatic research."

-- That's a very fair collecting philosophy... good luck with your endeavor. Though I have to offer... if you can manage to complete a full of even just Mexico mint issues in higher grades (INCLUDING the 1732 and 1733 issues)... God bless - affordability is NOT one of your concerns! LOL

"COB 1/2Rs are crummy coins, and I agree very hard to attribute..."

-- Correct, and correct! Certainly not the series for whom eye appeal/high grade is an important consideration. More of an "eye of the beholder" thing... which contributes to these, IMO, being even more understudied/underappreciated (undervalued?) than their milled descendants... Obviously nothing is going to be as aesthetically appealing as a semi-PL portrait 1/2... but go ahead, TRY to find even a average circulated decently-struck Carlos II Mexico cob 1/2R WITH VISIBLE DATE. I triple dare you.

"The design on the 1/4R is superb, but the coin is too small for me."

-- Exactly. I was curious to see what you, as someone who is clearly into the half-reales, would think about them... They do seem to have a bit of a devoted following at the higher end... but I'd imagine it's a limited group.

1/4 reales are also darn expensive, check the last heritage sell (they had two)
Just received one (not as nice, but still in great quality considering its size), will try to post a picture tonight if I find some time.
Also checked what I had for Carolus II ... and I don't have a half real for now :) I love the Santa Maria design though, got the 1,2 and 4 reales cob of this one, and the 1 real segovia
Here is the 4 reales :

Thanks :)
Yep, I love that 4 reales :D Received it last week, costed me an arm, but well ... it worth it :p
The date is not listed in Calico - which makes it even more impressive to have :D

I still have to take time to do the picture of the 1/4 real (plus some others I have to send).

MathieuMa Regarding the Silver Quarter Reale from Santiago, Chile - while I am no expert on Chilean coins in general - I am very concerned that the coin is not an original. The King's profile is not right based on the few photos I could locate and the raised lines crossing the face and the shield are very suspect.

That looks far better as far as the design goes. The raised lines still bother me however.

It could be corrosion I don't know.

I love this transitional types, I'm trying to get a complete set of those (I collect different types, and decided this was particular enough to deserve a 'type' set)
The size of the coin is 13mm, maybe a little bit less, but more than 12mm.
The coin is very thin, and despite this they managed to get a nice 'square and circle' rim. (one of the reasons that makes me almost sure this is not a copy)

Think about it like cobs, some 2 escudo cobs are of the same width than 1 escudo ones (or reales) which are thiner.
Anyway, 13mm is very small, about the size of dineros.

Here is the same coin, a year after, with the king's ordinal written as IIII :
http://coins.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleN...&lotNo=23337

You have the similar designs (wrong king and different ordinal) on the 1/2 reales as well, as you collect those :) They should be easier to find than 1/4 reales.

Here is one of this coin's browser, with the king's ordinal written differently.
(hope I was not bidding against you on ebay then ...)
Last one I have to find, is a later one with a proper portrait for this king :)