1712L M Peru 8 cob/Escudos NGC MS66 The Sole Finest Certified

Serious coin collectors generally concentrate on perfection—the more perfect the coin, the more desirable and valuable it is. As a result many of them shy away from cobs, which, being hand-struck on hand-cut flans, are understandably less than perfect. The gold cobs of Lima and Cuzco, Peru, however, are the exception, and their beautiful design and execution are finally getting the attention they deserve from an increasing cadre of new collectors of means all over the world, with still many decades to go before these coins hit the six-figure levels of comparable US coins.

Perhaps most important, the gold cobs of Peru have a unique design, which was not made at any other Old World or New World Spanish mint.

But it is the execution of this design that is remarkable in Peruvian gold cobs, for practically every specimen is well centered, with clear date and assayer and mintmark and usually with most of the characters in the legends at least partially visible, on a round flan of uniform thickness and consistent weight (albeit about an eighth of a gram below the standard of 27.064 grams). Compare this to the odd-shaped and haphazardly struck gold cobs of Mexico and Colombia, which seldom show clear dates, mintmarks and assayers.

This attractive 1712 Certified NGC Super Gem Mint State 66 with no noticeable evidence of contact over the surfaces and full luster in the textured fields that sit beneath the raised design. The strike, perhaps the most important aspect of the eye-appeal on these issues, was accomplished far better than most, with a well-centered, minimally doubled design that is well centered. This is the Finest Known and a condition rarity that will make this piece particularly desirable to collectors specializing is cobs who wants to own the finest.

This is an investment grade rarity that will highlight any rare coin portfolio.