🔥 The Legendary Santiago Pillar 8 Reales 🔥
Chile. Ferdinand VI 8 Reales 1758-J UNC Details (Cleaned) NGC, Santiago mint, KM5, Cal-543. A celebrated Chilean rarity which draws the attention of advanced collectors whenever offered. With a handful of examples auctioned in the last couple of decades, this piece is one of the mere 5 graded by either NGC or PCGS, the finest being the Lissner example which graded MS61. A representative of the first type of silver pieces ever minted in Chile, this iconic Pillar issue was short-lived and struck in exceedingly lower quantities than its colonial counterparts in Mexico, Peru, or Bolivia. The Spanish colonial precious metal extraction/minting ratio depended on the local availability. That is, in places where gold was abundant, little silver was struck; where silver was predominant, the gold survivors are less available. Places such as Santiago and Popayan provided the Spanish Empire with an abundance of gold, while the Cerro Rico of Potosi and several Mexican localities enriched the Spaniards in silver. On top of the natural scarcity of Chilean colonial silver, this piece abounds in crispness across the well-centered and sharply struck flan, with trace luster and a light tone despite the grade qualifier. A highlight of any Spanish colonial coin cabinet. From the Coleccion Val y Mexia,
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