La Plata, Bolivia (minted in Potosi), gold 8 escudos proclamation medal, Ferdinand VII, 1808, by Moncayo, very rare. Medina-311; Herrera-26 (in silver). 26.97 grams; 37 mm. This is a very important medal that has yet to see its proper potential in multiple appearances in both European and American auctions (with only one other example appearing in the meantime). The famous Argentine numismatic historian Arnaldo Cunietti-Ferrando (quoted in an article by Luciana Pezzano in 2014) described it thus: "The most magnificent medals of oath under this king refer to the city of La Plata. They represent the arms of this city artistically displayed while the obverse shows a scene of highly developed political reference: a crowned lion holds its right claw on a castle and the left on a two-headed eagle which lies dead on the ground, thus symbolizing the fall of the Napoleonic regime in Spain." The legends read 1808 . FERDINANDO . VII . . . HISP . ET IND . R . [La Plata monogram] / OPTIMO . PRINC . PUBLICE . FIDELIT . IURAT, and the edge is diagonally reeded, as presumably struck on the flan for a Potosi 8 escudos. It is significant to note that Medina (1917) mentions an "example in gold owned by this collector" and relates details from an 1809 document about the dissemination of these medals (presumably the silver ones) to the public in a grand ceremony. In any case the present example is a beautiful medal, in lustrous AU grade, only lightly hairlined from cleaning, but also with a very expertly plugged hole at top, the overlooked presence and subsequent over-explanation of which seems to have dampened the importance and appeal, both historically and aesthetically, of what is potentially one of Bolivias greatest numismatic treasures.
