649. Lima, Peru, cob 8 reales Royal, 1725M, Louis I, unique and highly important, Practical Book of Cobs Plate Coin.
S-L20a; KM-R39; CT-unl. 26.61 grams. Before this coin came to light about 10 years ago, the existence of Louis I Lima 8 reales of 1725 was some-
what conjectural (in contrast to the 1725 8 escudos, which are relatively common), as the very few non-Royal specimens appearing in major references were rather unclear, and no Royal examples were cited, even in Lázaro (1996). At the time the best we could do with this discovery coin was to snag a picture of it for the 4th edition of our Practical Book of Cobs; but now for the first time we have the coin for sale, and it will be exciting to see what it can do as a unique type-coin that also happens to be very boldly struck and choice, on a very broad flan with three bold dates, king’s name LVDOVICVS rather clear, and all the other choice details associated with Royals, albeit with the usual drawbacks too, like four plugged holes near the edge and light traces of gilding, still no worse than VF overall. Plate Coin on page 80 of the 4th edition (2007) of The Practical Book of Cobs, with Sedwick photo-letter from 2003. Estimate: $25,000-up.
650. Lima, Peru, cob 8 reales Royal, 1729N, very rare, ex-Boyd. S-L21; KM-R34a; CT-616. 26.56 grams. A lovely coin, richly old-toned XF with NO HOLE (very rare thus), just some light old tooling in waves, minor doubling at top of cross, still very attractive and the kind of coin that gets passed down for generations from one important collector to another, this specific example purchased by the current consignor from a 1975 auction that anonymously featured choice cobs from the collection of F.C.C. Boyd, a huge collector in the first half of the 20th century. Similar to, but not a die-match with, Lázaro #23, rated at “RX” (no more than 3 specimens known), and comparable to a specimen that sold for $19,550 in the New York Sale (Baldwin / M & M) of December 2000 (lot #52). Pedigreed to the Superior auction of August 1975 (F.C.C. Boyd collection), with original lot-tag #2026, plated in the catalog. Estimate: $10,000-up. 177