Note 1315 — ACTO SEGUNDO
Reading edition
1314. No hay plata... Potosí. Potosí is a city of Bolivia situated on the Cerro de Potosí at an altitude of thirteen thousand feet. The Cerro de Potosí is said to have produced up to the present time over three billion dollars in silver. The first mine was opened there in 1545, and the year of Lope's birth, 1562, a royal mint was established in the city of Potosí to coin the output of the mines. Small wonder is it then that the Spaniards still refer to the city in proverb as a synonym for great riches. Lope mentions it in several of his other dramas.