3/18/22 Report - Hoard of Maravedis Found. Values of Maravedis. Secret of Maravedi Cove.

 

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

The 1715 Fleet provides the lucky detectorist with silver and even occasionally some gold coins, but there is another kind of Spanish colonial coin that is found on rare occasions.  It isn't the cargo of Spanish treasure fleets, but the small change of the day - the Maravedi.  When found, maravedis often come from salvage camps in the dunes or land archaeological sites.

After Spain's discovery of the Americas, copper maravedís, along with silver reales, were the first coins struck in Spain for the purpose of circulation in the New World colonies. These coins, minted with a special design for specific use of the Americas, were first coined in Seville in 1505 for shipment to the colonial island of Hispaniola the following year, thus giving these coins their distinction as the first coins for the New World. By 1531 these coins were still being minted, by now in both Seville and Burgos. These maravedís were used as Spanish Colonial change for smaller transactions and after mints were later established in the New World, in both Mexico (ordered in 1535, production began in 1536) and Santo Domingo (ordered in 1536, production began in 1542), coins of this type were also minted there. (Wikipedia)

About ten years ago a hoard of coins, mostly copper pieces, were discovered by a metal detectorist near a major Spanish settlement on the east coast of Florida.  You can probably guess which, although the author didn't tell.  

The detectorist, "is an avid local historian, a capable researcher who does his homework with books and maps before he ever turns a spade of soil. This fellow had found a pretty good spot to find items from the Spanish era in soil disturbed by modern development. While hardly virgin soil, it still kept many of its secrets from about 400 years ago."

The lion’s share of the coins found in this hoard were from the 17th century, with just a few 18th century and later pieces. Nearly all were copper, small bronze pieces struck on the Spanish mainland denominated in maravedis. The largest of these, worth 8 maravedis, was essentially equal to a quarter real in silver, making it a small but useful unit. The most frequently found denomination was a 2-maravedi piece, a small bronze coin that composed just a 1/136 part of an 8-real coin.

While most of the small bronze coins circulating in Spain in the 17th century were countermarked in a series of mid-century coinage revaluations, relatively few of the countermarked pieces were found in the hoard, suggesting that the coins had been imported to America prior to the 1641 and 1652 countermarking acts.

Spanish copper coins from the 17th century are found up and down the Eastern Seaboard, one here, one there, suggestive of the need for small change in early America and the frequent commercial intercourse between the British colonies and the Spanish dominions of the Caribbean and South America. They’ve even been found at Jamestown...

Here is the link for more about that.

Treasure finds in Florida (coinworld.com)

Here are the values of maravedis as provided by Coinquest.

1 MARAVEDI (15 mm diameter, 1.12 grams)
worn: $15 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $40
well preserved : $60
maravedi dated before 1772 are larger and worth more, double these values

2 MARAVEDIS (20 mm diameter, 2.45 grams)
worn: $7 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $25
well preserved : $45
2 maravedis before 1789 are larger
2 maravedis dated 1782 are rare and catalog at $220 in well preserved condition
2 maravedis dated 1783 are somewhat rare and catalog at $100 in well preserved condition

4 MARAVEDIS (25 mm diameter, 5.41 grams)
worn: $8 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $20
well preserved: $36
4 maravedis dated before 1772 are quite rare and catalog at $500 in well preserved condition
4 maravedis dated 1783 are worth more, cataloging at $115 in well preserved condition

8 MARAVEDIS (30 mm diameter, 12 grams)
worn: $6 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $15
well preserved: $35
8 maravedis dated before 1772 are rare and catalog at $500 in well preserved condition
8 maravedis dated 1772, 1782, 1783, and 1792 are worth more, cataloging at about $130 in well preserved condition

And here is that link.

Coin Value: Spain 1, 2, 4 and 8 Maravedis (Carol III and IIII) 1770 to 1808 (coinquest.com)

---

The Story of Maravedi Cove.

This is a good read.  It tells of the chance discovery of what was found to be a maravedi and the attempt to relocate and further search the area where the maravedi was originally found.

Here is just the beginning.

A Small Coin Reveals a Big Secret
In the early 1980s, Grand Turk dive operator Mike Spillar was cruising around the islands, diving with some friends...

Here is the link.

Maravedi Cove – Turks and Caicos Museum (tcmuseum.org)

---

Good hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net