... those are some really nice silvers, Dearborne ... Libertads are beautifully designed ...
... Here's a cob that features a design anomaly that is yet unlisted in any reference (that I can find) ... a transposition of fields on the bottom of the Hapsburg shield ... (representing the territories of
Old Burgundy & Brabant) plus transposition of fields representing
Flanders & Tyrol ... the cross side also has transposed lions & castles the more common design error) ... 3 errors on 1 coin ...
...other design transpositions on Potosi cobs are known & documented, & have their own catalog sub-type numbers, such as the more common juxtaposition of lions & castles in the fields of the Jerusalem cross, representing
Castile & Leon, & the more rare juxtaposition of the top shield fields, representing
Castile/Leon &
Aragon with Naples & Sicily ...
...these anomalies occurred at the Potosi colonial mint, under assayers "M", "T/PAL", "T", & "P", during a period between 1617 - 1629 ...
...(it should be noted that the juxtaposed lions & castles of the Jerusalem cross side anomaly is seen on a few earlier peninsular Spanish cobs, mainly Seville & Madrid mins, & occurs again on a few 1640s Potosi mint cobs...)
...anyway, for those still awake ... this 8 reales was won on
ebay (yet to be received...using seller's pic). It is obviously sea-salvaged & by looking at the quality of the cleaning / restoration, the era (1617 - 1622), & the mint of origin (more Potosi mint cobs were recovered from the ATOCHA than any other mint...) it looks like that it likely was salvaged from the
ATOCHA ...
...online, I found 2 other Atocha 8 reales with this anomaly, both dated 1618, & the feature details on this coin are a match ... both of the 2 Atocha 8s were sold at auction, with no reference to this particular error ... do an internet search: ".. 1618 Potosi 8 reales .." / images ... you will see many pics, & look for the examples that match the bottom shield error ... (see my diagram attached)
...Not a collector of sea-salvaged cobs, but I couldn't pass on this one, as the Atocha examples sold in the $3000 range ... I bought this one as a companion piece to 2 other c.1618 Potosi cobs with the same error ( a 1 real & a 2 reales) ...
...I'm going to campaign with Krause & Calico & see if I can get a unique catalog # for these cobs ... wish me luck ...
...here's my 8 ... It also features the more common transposition on the Jerusalem Cross ... the cob has two "errors" ...
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Posted 11/22/2025 8:07 pm
The silver Libertad can definitely be addictive. Be aware that there are a few early low mintage years that are very expensive but most other years are still reasonably priced. 
