PHILIP IV

In 1651 the Coining House of Segovia, also known as El Ingenio in Spanish, reopened after 11 years, coinciding with the need to re-mint all the fraudulent silver coming from Potosí. Under the direction of a new engraver, Alonso de Orozco, the mint issued coins in both 1651 and 1652. Merchants once again obtained licenses to bring their metals to the mint. Juan Cruz de Gainza, for instance, secured permits to mint cincuentines and doubloons of 8 escudos on May 16, 1651. It’s highly likely that some of the authorized gold coinage for 1651, including onzas and, theoretically, centenes with a total weight of 200 marks (although information about these is scarce) was actually minted in 1652. This assumption is based on the absence of records authorizing onza minting in the latter year. Moreover, it was common practice to extend minting permits to the following year if the authorized quantity wasn’t fully struck in the year of issuance. Therefore, we attribute these onzas to the 1651 license, although with the date of 1652 over 1651, as well as the BR mark of the new assayer, Bernardo de Pedrera, over the mark I of his predecessor, Hipólito de Santo Domingo, who assayed coins in 1651. This makes these coins exceedingly rare.