10/25/20 Report - One 16th Century Two-Reale Found Wednesday Examined. Decreasing Surf.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

Silver Coin Found Wednesday
On The Treasure Coast.

Yesterday I gave you the details of an actual hunt that took place Wednesday of last week.  Just to catch you up, Cob (a pseudonym for the detectorist) found a bunch of coins, one of which seemed particularly interesting.  Eager to know what it really was, Cob hurried home, tested the coin and found it was silver.  Although it had a cross, lions and castles on one side, it didn't look like a 1715 Plate Fleet coin, and he didn't know what it was.

That is where I left off yesterday, so if you didn't read that post, you might want to go back and read the entire story, which I'll continue today. 

When Cob got the coin lightly cleaned and put it under magnification, he saw the coin as shown above.

As Cob saw in the field, there seems to be a cross, lions and castles surrounded by what appears to be a box.

When the other side was inspected with magnification, the first thing that stuck out was the two prominent dots nearly in the middle of the coin.  

Other Side of Same Coin Shown Above.

You can see those two dots in the above photo.  

If you look carefully you might also be able to see parts of two pillars, and at the top of the pillars, some horizontal lines, which are part of the cap of the pillars.

And if you look really close, to the left of the very visible part of the left pillar is PLV.  SVL is between the pillars, and TR to the right of the right pillar.

But what type of coin is it?   Where was it made and when?

After referencing both Sewall Menzel's Cobs, Pieces of Eight and Treasure Coins, and Calico, Calico and Trigo's Mondedas Espanolas desde Juana y Carlos a Isabel II 1504 a 1868, this coin appears to be similar to type 74 shown in Calico et al.

It appears to be very much like one found by Terry S. and posted in this blog back in May.

See https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2020/05/5720-report-old-treasure-coast-coin.html

Here is Terry's after it was professionally cleaned and certified by West Bay Trading Co.

Mexico Two-Reale Circa 1500 - 1550
Find and Photo by Terry Shannon.

You can see much more detail on Terry's, but I believe it is the same type as the one found this week.

If that is correct, this cob would date to before 1555, like Terry's, which would make it at least 465 years old.  That is a long time between appearances.  

Unlike this coin, coins minted in Mexico after 1555, were minted under Bernardo de Onate, assayer of the Mexico mint showed a Hapsburg shield on the obverse and a cross on the reverse.  

So that is what old man Cob learned about the mysterious coin that showed up on the Treasure Coast last Wednesday.

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There were other finds made last week.  I mentioned some of them.  I expect to be able to show others in the near future.

Since his batteries ran out on him Wednesday, old Cob went back to the same location to finish what he missed the day before.

I also plan to do a post-hunt analysis.

___

Detectorist Enjoying the Treasure Coast Weather
at John Brooks Beach Sunday Morning.

I wonder if he told his wife he was going to the beach to find her a diamond ring?

John Brooks didn't look very good this morning unless you were up for a good sleep.

I think we might be back to level 1 beach metal detecting conditions.

I did see some nice surfing waves early, but the beaches I saw were getting more sand.  I did see a beach in the distance that might have been a touch better, but I didn't get down to it.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

It looks like the surf will be decreasing through next week.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net