Peru  8 Escudos  1747  "La Luz Shipwreck Era"  

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PERU 8 ESCUDOS 1747 "LA LUZ SHIPWRECK ERA" EXCEPTIONAL TONING AND STRONG STRIKE ON BOTH SIDES! THERE’S SOMETHING VERY SPECIAL ABOUT THIS PIECE… THERE WAS A VERY LARGE EARTHQUAKE ~ MAGNITTUDE OF 8.6 - 8.8 FOLLOWED BY A TSUNAMI WHICH COMPLETELY ANILIATED THE LIMA MINT AND THE CITY OF PERU WITHIN 3-4 MINUTES! ONLY 1,141 PEOPLE OUT OF A POPULATION OF OVER 60,000 LIVED! ONLY 25 HOUSES OUT OF OVER 3,000 STOOD. IT WASN’T UNTIL NOVEMBER OF 1747 WHEN A MAKE-SHIFT TEMPORARY MINT WAS COBBLED TOGETHER IN ORDER TO STRIKE THIS VERY PIECE AND GOLD COINAGE ONCE AGAIN. IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY IN THE BACKGROUND OF THE CROSS SIDE, ESPECIALLY TO THE RIGHT OF THE BOTTOM CASTLE, YOU CAN SEE THE VELVET TEXTURED LINES. THIS WAS DUE TO STRAW BEING USED IN THE MAKESHIFT MINT AND AROUND THE DIES. -PILLAR SIDE STAMPED "V" BY ASSAYER JOSE de VARGAS! THERE WAS A NEW MINT SUPERINTENDENT A YEAR LATER, ANDRES MORALES, IN 1748, WHOM ARRIVED IN LIMA AND WAS CHARGED WITH CONVERTING THE MINTAGE FROM COBS TO MILLED COINS AND ALSO TO RESPOND TO THE BOARD OF COINAGE WHOM REQUESTED A RE~DESIGN DUE TO FREQUENT MIS~STRIKES AND DUPLICATING (DOUBLING). FERNANDO'S FATHER (KING PHILIP Vth) HAD PREVIOUSLY (1728) ORDERED COLONIAL MINTS TO CONVERT FROM COBS TO MILLED COINAGE, BUT STILL WERE STRIKING COBS UPON MORALES' ARRIVAL AND NEW COMMAND. THIS PIECES OF EIGHT HAS A LARGE ROUND FLAN "VERY VERY RARE (TO FIND SO ROUND)!" INCREDIBLE DETAILS AND BOLD STRIKE - INCREDIBLY RARE AT OVER 250 YEARS OLD AND IN THIS CONDITION! JUST FINDING AN 8 ESCUDOS IS TOUGH ENOUGH, BUT A STRONG STRIKE DOUBLE DATED PIECE IS VERY DIFFICULT, THEN ADD ON TOP OF THAT THE "INCREDIBLE CENTERING" OF THIS HAMMERED PIECE AND YOU REALLY HAVE A WORLD CLASS EXAMPLE! "RARE OPPORTUNITY!"