Drunk on “the mere fumes of silver”, an author of the time noted that the city’s residents “nurtured such elevated thoughts” – exemplified by mining boss Domingo Beltran, who reportedly proclaimed himself to be among the world’s most important figures: “The Pope in Rome, the King in Spain, and Domingo Beltran in Potosí ...”. “I am rich Potosí, treasure of the world, king of all mountains and envy of kings” read the city’s coat of arms, and the pieces of eight that flowed from it helped make Spain the global superpower of the period. Marked on the handle: POTOSI SILVER and on the shaft with the trademarks of the Potosi Silver Company of Birmingham, Length: 19.9 cm, Width: 2.4 cm, Depth: 2 cm, Fork, electroplated nickel silver, trademarked 'Potosi Silver', Birmingham, England, ca.1880, 18. Potosi Silver Sale Prices / Values: Browse FREE Potosi Silver Sale Prices & Values. Potosí was “the first city of capitalism, for it supplied the primary ingredient of capitalism – money”, notes the author Jack Weatherford. “Everything is finished,” wrote another resident. ‘The mountain that eats men’: Potosí depicted in 1553. FREE Potosi Silver Spoon Sale Prices, Values & Valuation. All Rights Reserved. The first Spanish boy to survive birth in Potosí was born in 1584, nearly 40 years after the city’s foundation; in 1624, much of the city’s native Peruvian sector was washed away as the San Salvador dam broke, killing around 200 and causing extensive destruction. Nickel silver There are no reliable mortality statistics about the mining and associated processes, according to Dr Ignacio Gonzalez Casasnovas, an expert on the social history of Potosí, “but we would estimate the toll to be much less than the 8 million deaths of which Galeano spoke.”, Casasnovas is far more certain of the city’s impact on the world: “At a time when European powers were expanding, both economically and technologically, it facilitated the globalisation of the world’s economy. “For many miners, their fathers also died of silicosis, and they entered the mine at an early age. FIND 1000's of Antiques, Art, Vintage & RARE Collectibles - each item pictured, described and with it's sale price guide. Please confirm you are using these images within the following terms and conditions, by acknowledging each of the following key points: Maximum 4000 copies, or 5 years digital use, No book jacket, or homepage lead image use, Images must be credited © Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Please let us know how you intend to use the images you will be downloading. "POTOSI SILVER. There’s a culture of death here,” one miner told Al Jazeera in 2014. Newsletter Despite Potosí’s flamboyance, it was plagued by murderous disputes between warring Spanish miners, natural disasters and the perils of living at 4,000m, where very little grows. “For the powerful emperor, for the wise king, this lofty mountain of silver could conquer the world.” So read the engraving on an ornate shield sent by Spain’s King Felipe II in 1561 as a gift to the city of Potosí, in what is now southern Bolivia. Read our, Copyright: © Victoria and Albert Museum, London 2017. The discovery of a mountain of silver (and a new way to extract it) transformed this remote Incan hamlet into the economic centre of Spain’s empire – larger than London, Milan or Seville. Journal Marks and inscriptions "POTOSI SILVER. American silver prompted King Philip IV of Spain to proclaim: “In silver lies the security and strength of my monarchy.” But this assumption of unlimited wealth from the Americas proved ruinous, fuelling an unsustainable level of spending by the Spanish royals. At its peak in the early 17th century, 160,000 native Peruvians, slaves from Africa and Spanish settlers lived in Potosí to work the mines around the city: a population larger than London, Milan or Seville at the time. E. Eatwell Gift Does your city have a little-known story that made a major impact on its development? Please share it in the comments below or on Twitter using #storyofcities, Story of cities #7: Philadelphia grid marks birth of America's urban dream. The city gave rise to a Spanish expression, still in use: vale un Potosí, ("to be worth a Potosí") meaning "to be of great value". A trader of the period commented: “In every port where [merchant vessels] put down anchor, they jump ship and leave behind their duties and occupations, absenting themselves in anticipation of the liberties and uncertain riches of Potosí and other mining centres.” One resident of the city noted: “It seemed the land was swelling with rootless people who came each year from below and Spain to this villa, the stopping point for all the poor.”. Potosi Silver Co. (maker) Materials and Techniques. San Luis Potosi (8R), NGC AU Details, KM# 377.12... MEXICO - SAN LUIS POTOSI 1892-PiMR 8 REALES SILVER COIN, XF/ALMOST UNCIRCULATED... MEXICO REPUBLIC SAN LUIS POTOSI 1890-PiMR 8 REALES COIN, CERTIFIED PCGS MS63... MEXICO - SAN LUIS POTOSI 1836-PiJS 8 REALES SILVER COIN, PCGS CERTIFIED MS61... MEXICO REPUBLIC SAN LUIS POTOSI 1885-PiLC 8 REALES COIN, CERTIFIED UNC. In 2011, the upper cone of the mountain collapsed. Felipe was all too aware of the vast riches hidden beneath this remote Andean settlement. See TODAY's Potosi Silver Spoon for SALE, BEST OFFER and Auction; plus Expert Appraisal/Valuation, FREE sales advice and brokerage services, FREE price guide, values, wish list and more - FIND 150+ Specialist categories | Bath Antiques Online - Buy, Sell & Value! Much discussed in The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, it had helped fund the Spanish empire’s wars with the British, Dutch, and French – and helped them overcome the Ottomans. 1808PTS PJ BOLIVIA 8R CAROLUS IIII NGC AU DETAILS 1808 BOLIVIA 8 REALES KM#84 “To be worth a Potosí” appears in Don Quijote de la Mancha, a phrase that is still used in Spanish to this day. The pieces of eight from Potosí that had poured into China’s Ming dynasty eventually proved inflationary, making the city’s mining operations less profitable and lowering the price of silver around the world. Website / Blog Book Modern Potosí is a shell of its former self. The ore mined by the native workers and African slaves made many Spaniards exceedingly wealthy. “For about 70 years now, a great quantity of ore has been mined … It is no great surprise that the good ores have been exhausted, and that all have diminished.”, From its boom-town peak at 160,000, the city’s population had fallen to 60,000 by the end of the 17th century. The Potosi Silver Company Private Research The city of Potosí today is a shell of its former self. But high in the Andes above the treeline, the rich mountain remains – its contents now in Armada shipwrecks, the jewellery of Arab rulers, and the remaining treasures of the Ming dynasty. Founded in 1545 as a mining town, it soon produced fabulous wealth, and the population eventually exceeded 200,000 people. The power of the machinery and new technology now at the disposal of the silver industry could produce thousands of identical items to a standard formula of design, quality and price. Native Peruvians from hundreds of miles away were forced to travel to Potosí to labour in the mines, then given the back-breaking task of carrying the daily quota of 25 bags of silver ore, each weighing around 45kg, to the surface . The production of silver in the city exploded in the early 1570s after the discovery of a mercury amalgamation process to extract it from the mined ore, coupled with the imposition of a forced labour system known as the mita. The conquistadors may never have found El Dorado, but they did find a mound of silver so large it would turn an isolated Incan hamlet into the fourth largest city in the Christian world in just 70 years, fund the creation of the most advanced industrial complex of its era, and define economic fortunes from China to western Europe. Along the centre line of the back of the stem, (Potosi Silver) and along the centre of the back of the tip. Writing about a group of 7,000 native Peruvians – taken from their homes far away to work in the mines – one Spanish observer wrote: “Only some 2,000 people return: of the other 5,000, some die and others stay at Potosí or the nearby valleys because they have no cattle for the return journey.”. At its peak in the early 17th century, 160,000 native Peruvians, African slaves and Spanish settlers lived in Potosí. The mountain still towers over the city but it is crumbling inside, made unstable by the hundreds of miles of mine shafts constructed over the 500 years it has been exploited. Personal use, Search 1,238,025 objects and 855,273 images, We use cookies to enhance your experience on V&A websites. FORK The city did not just prove fatal to the thousands who died in the mines. The discovery of silver turned this isolated Incan hamlet into the fourth largest city in the Christian world in just 70 years. MEXICO SAN LUIS POTOSI MINT 1887-PiMR 8 REALES SILVER COIN, XF/AU... MEXICO SAN LUIS POTOSI MINT 1875-PiMH 8 REALES SILVER COIN ALMOST UNCIRCULATED+... MEXICO SAN LUIS POTOSI MINT 1869-PiPS 4 REALES SILVER COIN, VF/XF... MEXICO SAN LUIS POTOSI 4 REALES SILVER COINS: 1845-AM, 1849-PS, 1861-RO, 1862-RO... MEXICO SAN LUIS POTOSI 4 REALES SILVER COINS: 1849-MC, 1850-MC, 1868-PS, 1869-PS... MEXICO REPUBLIC SAN LUIS POTOSI MINT 1868-PiPS 4 REALES SILVER COIN, XF... MEXICO FIRST REPUBLIC SAN LUIS POTOSI MINT 1842-PiPS 4 REALES SILVER COIN, XF... MEXICO REPUBLIC SAN LUIS POTOSI 1874-PiMH 8 REALES SILVER COIN, UNCIRCULATED... MEXICO SAN LUIS POTOSI MINT 1885-PiMH 8 REALES SILVER COIN, XF++... MEXICO SAN LUIS POTOSI MINT 1886-PiMR 8 REALES SILVER COIN, XF/AU... MEXICO REPUBLIC SAN LUIS POTOSI 1851-PiMC 4 REALES SILVER COIN, XF+... MEXICO SAN LUIS POTOSI MINT 1874-PiMH 8 REALES SILVER COIN, XF++... MEXICO SAN LUIS POTOSI MINT 1878-PiMH 8 REALES SILVER COIN, XF... MEXICO SAN LUIS POTOSI MINT 1877-PiMH 8 REALES SILVER COIN, XF++... MEXICO SAN LUIS POTOSI MINT 1886-PiLC 8 REALES SILVER COIN, XF++ ... MEXICO SAN LUIS POTOSI MINT 1881-PiMH 8 REALES SILVER COIN, ALMOST UNCIRCULATED... MEXICO SAN LUIS POTOSI MINT 1882-PiMH 8 REALES SILVER COIN, ALMOST UNCIRCULATED... MEXICO SAN LUIS POTOSI MINT 1876-PiMH 8 REALES SILVER COIN, ALMOST UNCIRCULATED... MEXICO SAN LUIS POTOSI MINT 1884-PiMH 8 REALES, ALMOST UNCIRCULATED+... MEXICO SAN LUIS POTOSI MINT 8 REALES COINS: 1885-PiMH, 1886-PiMR (2), 1887-PiMR,... MEXICO SAN LUIS POTOSI MINT 1889/7-PiR 10 CENTAVOS SILVER COIN, UNCIRCULATED... MEXICO SAN LUIS POTOSI MINT 1848-PiAM 8 REALES SILVER COIN, ALMOST UNCIRCULATED... Bolivia Philippe V 2 Reales 1732 Potosi Very Rare... Spain-Fernando VII 1/2 Real 1822. In the 1840s, licences to make the new products were sold widely in Britain and abroad to firms such as Christofle & Co. in Paris. Many of the Bolivians who still work in the mines suffer from the same illnesses as those who died at the hands of the Spanish – their lungs turned black by the dust. Potosi MBC / VF Silver 1,7 (G) .Scarce... Felipe V 1/2 Real Potosi Macuquino Silver @ Good Specimen @... 1500's Philip II Potosi B Silver 1/2 Reales Antique Spanish Colonial Cob Coin... Mexico 8 Reales Pi 1835 J.S. Thousands died in the fighting, fuelled by gossip and rumours that travelled on the icy Andean wind. Birmingham, around 1880 Alongside the mita, Toledo’s other reforms were the first serious attempt to organise this boom city. M.16-1999 [20/01/2000]. The new arrivals began to clash with the Basque ruling class who had come to dominate the city , causing vicious gang wars.

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