Da Coins + One Bit

[Hugh Pharted]

Here are the coins I found today....Not included are the 1930 & 1952 wheaties.......Notice there is one bit...the letters that can be seen around the edge are UE space VN. It's also very thin...I just read an article on this last week but can't seem to locate it...any info would be appreciated

Hugh

 

[markg]

THAT PIECE IS SILVER AND I'VE READ SOMEWHERE ABOUT IT.

 

[fwcrawford]

n/t

 

[coinnut]

Hi, It's a bit, although its kinda a misused term. I call all pieces bits. But I think yours is not from an 8 Reales, but from a one Real. Look at the curve of the bit and see that it looks like about the size of the penny?, you have next to it. So each bits value would be determined by what size coin it came from. I think a bit is around 12 1/2 cents (or 2 bits for a quarter). So I think a standard bit is from a 4 Reales, cut in four pieces or an 8 Reales cut in 8 pieces. Yours being smaller must have been small change that someone needed but didn't have. I've found around 10 Spanish pieces, but only one bit. If I'm wrong on the denominations, someone please set me straight Great find. HH

 

[GRAY GHOST]

hey hugh, coinnut is right... 2 bits is 25 cents, 4 bits is 50 cents and so on. the spanish milled and unmilled dollars were hacked in 8 pieces, each bit worth about 12 and a half cents, to make change which was scarce back then. so when you hear the phrase "pieces of eight" it really means the spanish milled dollar. fantastic finds, like mark g said. youre hitting a good spot, keep hitting it, go deep and slow. i believe theres more there yet. again, great finds, and a great job. hh,

 

[Hugh Pharted]

thanks for the responses......I just got home from being out of town most of the week and haven't had a chance to put the penny next to it to compare size....So, would you all say this is from the 1700s?

 

[Hugh Pharted]

Ok, so I compare it to a penny and it was bigger. So I compared it to a dime and sure enough, it's a 1/4 size of a dime...Judging by this, I'm assuming it's a bit is from a 4 Reales, cut in four pieces...........No?

HP

 

[coinnut]

If it's the size of a dime, it's a half real. This is the smallest silver denomination. A one real is about the size of a penny/nickle, a 2 reales is about the size of a quarter, 4 reales is about a half dollar and a 8 reales is about a silver dollar. So you have a tiny bit. It's surprising that a detector can even pick it up. Good find. HH

 

[Hugh Pharted]

It was just a faint signal that I got, but there it was...Thanks for the the info