| Hand-struck
from a chip from the end of a bar of silver (cabo de barra), this half-real
cob or macuquina, found in the Philippines is, by its denomination so small
(12 mm at the widest) and so light (approximately 1.7 grams), that it should
merit no special mention at all in a numismatic work -- except that it
is almost a miracle that it should even exist in its present form. By royal
decree "... a cob was supposed to be a piece of metal of specified weight
and fineness, guaranteed by the Spanish government in the person of its
local assayer and by his initial, struck unto the design of the coin" (Sedwick,
F., The Practical Book of Cobs, 1987.). It was also required to bear the
royal coat of arms and to be dated whenever possible. To contain all of
this information, the cob had to be flat and evenly made (which was hardly
ever the case) and of sufficient surface area so as to be able to hold
all the required data (as in the case of 8-real and some 4-real cobs).
This particular
cob, a HALF-REAL (which makes it the smallest prescribed denomination)
somehow manages to contain on its obverse and reverse ALL the information
required: full date (1730); mint mark (Mo for Mexico); the upper part of
the assayer's initial (G); the upper left portion of the crowned royal
shield partly showing the tower of Castile atop the lion rampant of Leon
and part of the colors of Austria. The ROTATED reverse (20 degrees) shows
the upper left and central portions of the globed cross of King Felipe
of Spain and "treasures" or "quatrefoils" enclosing the towers of Castile
and lions rampant of Leon.
Finally, the
other thing that makes this diminutive coin a numismatic rarity (UNLISTED
in any numismatic catalogue, possibly an ERROR and probably UNIQUE) is
the fact that it carries on its obverse, for reasons yet unknown, the design
intended for a 1-real cob, making it what is characteristically known in
numismatic circles as a "MULE". Only ONE specimen known to exist. |
