404, Lot: 650. Estimate $100. Sold for $240. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

BOLIVIA, Colonial (as Alto Perú). Felipe IV. King of Spain, 1621-1665. AR 4 Reales (30mm, 13.48 g, 10h). Cob type. Potosí mint. Possibly struck 1621-1628. Coat-of-arms / Coat-of-arms. Cf. KM 17 and 17A (for type). VF, traces of earthen deposits in devices, rough surfaces.

Reportedly ex circa 1629 “Panama Hoard” (although ticket assigns it to the “Porto Bello Hoard”).

In the early 1990s the numismatic market began to hear about a massive find (tens of thousands) of early Potosí cobs (practically all 8 and 4 reales) in fabulous condition—in fact, totally uncorroded but with telltale orange clay on what were otherwise Mint State (or nearly so) surfaces. Soon this hoard took on many different names as the stories emerged: “Camino Real Trail hoard,” “Panama hoard,” and, curiously, “Mule Train hoard” (based on a rumor that the hoard was lost when a mule that was carrying the treasure fell over a cliff). The only thing that we know for certain is that the latest date on the coins in the hoard was 1629, which is when the hoard was presumably lost.