Page 3 - SAMPLE Coins of POTOSI - Colonial Period

BRIEF HISTORICAL REVIEW

1570 At that time the Imperial Village of Potosí was one of the most popu-
lous towns in America: growing at a breakneck pace. Miners and meta-
llurgists competed for site registration and metal smelting.
All the production of silver already melted had to pay tribute in the
Royal Treasury; then the bars were sealed legitimizing them to circulate
freely around the world.
In those years there was already a sense of the need to open a minting
house in Potosí, as Lima worked with many technical difficulties such as
the supply of raw materials since the silver that minted was extracted
and processed in Potosí having to travel about 1400 miles to reach the
Lima Mint destination.
This determined that the Viceroy, with an industrial vision of optimizing
silver exploitation and coinmaking, decided to close the Lima Mint
House

1572 Viceroy Francisco Alvarez de Toledo orders the construction of a buil-
ding where it was processed and struck silver coins.
Previously Alvarez de Toledo convinced of the goodness of transferring
the Lime Mint to the city of La Plata, ordered to carry the machinery
and tools of the Lima Mint to that town. The mint in La Plata had a
short life ordering to take the coin factory to Potosí, with the same
minting rules arranged by the royal certificate of August 21, 1565 for
the Mint of Lima.

1574 Begins to work the MINT HOUSE OF THE VILLA IMPERIAL DE POTOSI.

1759 Under the reign of Ferdinand VI, the construction of a new building for
the Mint is ordered.

1767 As of this year it is ordered to use a new monogram for this mint, which
was an interlaced PTS. Previously the monogram was only a P.

1773 In this year, under the reign of Charles III is inaugurated the new buil
ding of the Mint of Potosí.

1824 The last coin with Spanish shield is minted in Potosi Mint House.