Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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One of Several Carlos y Juana Two Reales Found On Treasure Coast in 2020 |
We don't find them very often on the Treasure Coast, but it does happen. 2020 was a year when a few Carlos and Juana reales were found on the Treasure Coast. It was towards the end of the year when we had an unusually high surf along with good tides.
These coins are older and different than most reales found on the Treasure Coast. Besides showing a different design, they tend to be round and thin. They were produced differently than the cobs that are more typical of the 1715 Fleet.
Terry Shannon found this one, which after being cleaned professionally, shows the details very nicely.
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| Carlos y Juana Two Reale Found by Terry Shannon. |
It is in better condition than the one shown at the top of this post.
The reason I'm showing these coins again is that I just ran across a web site that provides a nice discussion of these earlier coins.
Padre Island National Seashore is fortunate to have the National Park Service's largest collection of coins from the Spanish Colonial era. During the time of their use, these coins were called reales (singular: real, pronounced ray-AL in Spanish, plural ray-AL-es). Many of these coins came from the wrecks of three Spanish ships that went aground during a storm in 1554. However, some may have come from other ships that wrecked on the island or may have washed up from shipwrecks elsewhere in the Gulf. There are undoubtedly other sources as well...
Besides describing the features of these coins, the National Park Service web site distinguishes between those of the "early series" and those of the "late series." That is a distinction you might often hear.
As subsets of the basic design are two series of Carlos and Johanna reales. The first was made between 1539 and 1542 and are called the early series. There are maybe a few hundred of this series in existence today. The National Seashore is fortunate to possess a few of these. The later series was made between 1542 and 1572 after a new set of dies and a slightly altered design for making coins arrived at the Mexico City mint.The three basic differences between the two series are:
The late series has waves at the feet of the Pillars of Hercules.
The early series had the single world "PLUS" in banner across the Pillars. "PLUS" was an abbreviation of the Latin "PLUS ULTRA", which means "more beyond". This meant that there was more (wealth, land, etc.) beyond the pillars of Hercules. On the late series, "PLUS ULTRA" was written across the pillars, though sometimes it was abbreviated for reasons of space...
Spanish coins - Padre Island National Seashore (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Besides these early coins, there were also some silver splashes dug on the Treasure Coast at the end of last year. I've posted some of them before too.
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| Two Dug Metal Tubes. |
I recently dug these tubes. I thought they might be cigar tubes. There were no marks remaining on the tubes. Not knowing how long metal cigar tubes have been used, I had to do a little research. CigarJournal.com provided the answer.
In 1932 Waldo decided that the Havana cigar trade needed a way to distribute and sell its cigars more widely which guaranteed their condition and protected them against damage. He found that a process called impact extrusion which, using aluminum, could produce a container suitable for cigars at an affordable price. Unfortunately his colleagues did not believe that traditional Havana smokers would tolerate buying a cigar isolated in a tube. Undaunted, Waldo set about designing and patenting a seal for his aluminum tube. Called the Solo-Seel, he covered all the costs of its development himself. In September 1933 he took his idea back to the board, which grudgingly permitted him to conduct a test using H. Upmann cigars. They were launched in December that year...
Read the Story of the Aluminium Cigar Tube | Cigar Journal
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Elsa is way up north now and there is no other significant activity on the National Hurricane Center map.
It looks like we'll get a little more surf in a few days, but not much. The tides are moderate too.
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| Source: magicSeaWeed.com. |
I went on a little hunt yesterday but it was shortened by a thunderstorm. It was very junky too. Very difficult to work. I know there have to be some old U.S. coins there, but it would take a lot of work to get them. That site has even more junk than the railroad site. I saw two sinks, mostly buried, not to mention all the other metal junk.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net