First Spanish silver

[bruce01364]

Found this today with my elite. Knew right away it was a spanish coin (because of the cross) but don't know enough about them to know what coin it is. It is pretty beat up and about the size of a nickle. May have been larger at one time. Can anyone tell me what coin it is?
Thanks.

 

[Doug[Manila]]

Looks like they used an oversized punch intended for a larger reale. A museum guy can authenticate and narrow down the date it was minted.

http://www.newworldtreasures.com/cobs_potosi.htm

 

[bruce01364]

I can do some research on it now.

 

[Macaco]

Hi Bruce,

Nice coin! Congratulations. I love cobs but I've only found a few, all of them in Central America.

My friend and treasure hunting buddy of many years is Dr. Sewall Menzel. He's probably the world's foremost expert on cob coinage so I e-mailed him pics of your coin and asked him for his expert opinion. Here's what he wrote back:

"The coin is a 1721 M (Melgarejo assayer's initial), Lima mint. The date, assayer initial and denomination are all there. Good find......Lima mint mark (L) on the coin".

BTW, he wrote a book on cob coins which was published in 2004. It's the most exhaustive refererence for cob coins, their history and identification. If you're going to be finding some more cobs or you're just interested in the subject you may want to pic up a copy of his book:

"Cobs, Pieces of Eight and Treasure Coins-The Early Spanish-American Mints and Their Coinages 1536-1773"

Author:
Sewall Menzel

Publisher:
The American Numismatic Society
2004

I'm pretty sure you can pick up a copy on Amazon. It's a big, hardcover book with hundreds and hundreds of photos of cobs and identification techniques. If anyone wants to be an expert on Spanish cobs this is the book to have.

Great coin. Go get some more!

 

[bruce01364]

Thanks for the info. I have been searching online to see if I could find a coin that looks like mine with no luck. Getting an experts opinion was more than I could have hoped for. Think I may buy your friends book to find out more about the coins history. Would come in handy if I find another Spanish coin. Wishful thinking maybe but you never know. My metal detector has surprised me quite a few times with the items it has found.
Thanks again.