5/14/22 Report - Exploring a Couple of Exceptional Spanish Treasure Coast Beach Coin Finds.

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

Terry Shannon sent me a great summary on a couple great coins found a couple years ago on a Treasure Coast beach.  We had some unusual conditions back then.  The surf was high, and we had a good high tide along with the high surf.  As a result, some places, including some dunes, eroded that hadn't eroded for quite a while.  I posted a few pictures of these coins and commented on them in a post at that time, but Terry put together this presentation with the great photos shown below.  The Carlos and Johanna coins of this type are not dated, but the type is older than those found as cargo on the 1715 Fleet wrecks.  I know of four of this general type that were found back in that general timeframe, but to my knowledge the two-reale found by Terry is by far the best example.  Below is what Terry sent me. 

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Back in the spring of 2020 while detecting I found a Carlos & Johanna 2 reale Spanish coin.

Carlos & Johanna 2-Reale
Dug On The Treasure Coast by Terry Shannon.

The coin was minted in Mexico and the assayer G only worked from 1544 to 1548.

At the time it was found it was believed that it may be the oldest coin ever found on the Treasure Coast or at least one of the oldest.

Same Two-Reale Before Cleaning.

This shows what the coin looked like when I found It. The coin was so encrusted  that I really wasn’t sure of what I had just found.

Two Dug Carlos and Johanna Coins Before Cleaning.

I actually found two coins that day, this picture shows that both coins had the same type of odd encrustation  and I believed that the second coin may be another Carlo & Johanna coin because of the encrustation but there was no visible markings.

Two Carlos and Johanna Coins Dug By Terry After Cleaning.

I read a book called Sweat Of The Sun Tears Of The Moon by Peter Lourie. He talked about recovering shipwrecked coins that would shine up well but showed very little detail. They discovered that the coins were covered with a form of coin silver and when this was remover much of the detail was restored. I took my coin Steve Hodges at West Bay Trading  and Steve worked his magic and was able to recover enough detail to determine my second coin was in fact another Carlos & Johanna coin.

Other Side of Same Two Coins.

There is enough detail that you can see the pillars and a very plain 4 between the pillars. This indicates to me that this second coin is a 4 reale but because of the wear it is actually smaller than the 2 reale  that is in much better shape. I did some research and found that the earliest silver and copper coins of America were struck at Mexico City where the first mint of the New World was established by the Spanish in the spring of 1536, during the reign of Charles and Johanna.

Certificate of Authenticity For Carlos and Johanna Coin.

Steve made me this certificate of Authenticity and it just adds so much to this great recovery and I believe I will display these coins together because it’s such a neat story.

Steve Hodges at West Bay Trading is a good friend and a great guy with a wealth of knowledge and if you are into shipwreck coins you have to meet Steve.

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Thanks much Terry.

It is nice that finds get posted like this.  Terry did a great job of putting it together.  

Since the time I started doing the Treasure Beaches Report in 2008, I think it was, things have progressed a lot.  When I started the blog, the posts were generally short, and most of the photos left a lot to be desired.  I certainly got better at photography, and the technology is better.  I got better equipment and learned a lot.  We had far reaching effects, as others started to do similar things.  I'm sure this blog had a big effect.  When I look back at some of the early posts, I can see the progress that has been made when it comes to documenting finds. conditions as well as research and general discussion.  We have definitely increased the level of knowledge and improved the hobby by sharing.