First Spanish Silver!

[relsass]

Went out metal detecting for the 2nd time in 2 years at a new permission. Unprepared for this! rang up ~28 on the Nox.... sounded like a merc to me, which would make sense because I found a war nickel and a bunch of wheaties on the property.

Instead, I found this little piece of history after digging 2 clad pennies within 3 feet... I believe it is a 1/2 real, 1796. looks like it was carried around for a century or 2 but I'm just happy I got a date and enough to know what it is!

This makes the hours of can slaw, square nails and bottle caps worth it... I think I'll go swinging a bit more this summer!

Bucket list item: Spanish silver - check
oldest coin: 1796 - check

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Congratulations. You are now a member of the exclusive & elite "Spanish reale" club. You can now learn the secret handshake

 

[EmuDetector]

congrats and welcome to the club!

 

[MasonDixonMding]

Congrats! I know that feels good to pull that out of the ground. To get a ID and a date from something that old is very cool. Hope you can find more.

 

[relsass]

Congrats! I know that feels good to pull that out of the ground. To get a ID and a date from something that old is very cool. Hope you can find more.

Thank you. Yes it really made my week. I've been hoping to find older silver for a while now with only some mercs, war nickel and a pre-1965 quarter. This was a shock because the house was not built until early 1900s... but there is a barn on the property from late 1800s and a colonial house nearby that owned this whole neighborhood as a farm in the 1700s.

It was only 4-5" down so If I had to guess I'd say it spent a while in various pockets for 100+ years and was dropped sometime in late 1800s, early 1900s.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

....

It was only 4-5" down so If I had to guess I'd say it spent a while in various pockets for 100+ years and was dropped sometime in late 1800s, early 1900s.

While I agree that that amount of wear indicates *lots* of circulation decades, yet : Don't think that because it was only 4 or 5" down (commensurate with merc & war nickel depth), that therefore it could have circulated till past 1900. Because once you get down to harder pack soil (4 to 6"), the depth sink speed isn't the same. Ie.: If a coin sinks 4" in 40 yrs, you do not assume "an inch per decade" (Eg.: that in 100 yrs, you'd expect 10" deep).


Instead, they reach a certain depth and "slow down" (to where 100 yrs. added depth can be in a single inch for example).

And of course, varying soil types can make coins insanely deep, or insanely shallow. I've seen hard pan desert environments where seateds & reales were only an inch deep (blew your ears off). And I've seen moist damp manicured turf where wheaties and silver START at 7" deep (anything shallower than that is clad) .

Another factor with the difficulty of guessing reale circulation times is that : They were often struck poorly (weak strikes) TO BEGIN WITH. Unlike our uniform coins of today, where every single coin comes off the printing press exactly the same. Back then, a reale was sometimes a weak strike, to begin with.

 

[aj0421]

Congrats! That is what my first 1 reale looked like, the second one ( 1/2 reale ) on the same day was is much better condition. I hope you find more great treasures in the future!

 

[stetam]

Congrats on the tiny reale!

Steve

 

[markinmichigan]

Very rare find, wonder how it got there.

Mark in Michigan

 

[relsass]

While I agree that that amount of wear indicates *lots* of circulation decades, yet : Don't think that because it was only 4 or 5" down (commensurate with merc & war nickel depth), that therefore it could have circulated till past 1900. Because once you get down to harder pack soil (4 to 6"), the depth sink speed isn't the same. Ie.: If a coin sinks 4" in 40 yrs, you do not assume "an inch per decade" (Eg.: that in 100 yrs, you'd expect 10" deep).


Instead, they reach a certain depth and "slow down" (to where 100 yrs. added depth can be in a single inch for example).

And of course, varying soil types can make coins insanely deep, or insanely shallow. I've seen hard pan desert environments where seateds & reales were only an inch deep (blew your ears off). And I've seen moist damp manicured turf where wheaties and silver START at 7" deep (anything shallower than that is clad) .

Another factor with the difficulty of guessing reale circulation times is that : They were often struck poorly (weak strikes) TO BEGIN WITH. Unlike our uniform coins of today, where every single coin comes off the printing press exactly the same. Back then, a reale was sometimes a weak strike, to begin with.

Interesting... Thank you for the feedback. The soil is very rocky below 4-5" here so that makes sense. I know little to nothing about the background of these coins just because I never expected to find one. Since the local houses are mostly late 19th and 20th century, it seemed like a pipe dream. I actually thought it was a metal snap or piece of aluminum until I looked closely at home.

Very helpful! this will help me tune my detector for more from this area if they are around. I will be sure to provide updates if I find more when I go hammer that area in a few. Cheers!

 

[relsass]

Very rare find, wonder how it got there.

Mark in Michigan

Thank you, same here. I was shocked and almost put it in the jink pile until I looked more closely. I'm going to go hammer that area and I'll update if I find more. Cheers!

 

[hoser]

Big CONGRATS! I'm yet to find one of those and due to where I live it would have to be a fluke as they just were not in this area unless someone from out east carried one in. Better chance to find one WAY downstate.

 

[The Rebel]

WTG on the Spanish Silver! Looks like you also found a toy musket / rifle band on the paper towel.

 

[relsass]

WTG on the Spanish Silver! Looks like you also found a toy musket / rifle band on the paper towel.

Thanks! And thank you for ID'ing that, I wasn't able to quite figure that one out myself. I went looking for more this evening but no such luck. Lots of wheaties, clad ( a clad quarter that almost gave me a heart attack- damn these new quarters with a different reverse side every year) and some other interesting items I'll clean and post. Can't identify the symbol on this latest find so far ( I also posted in the "Help ID" forum):

 

[relsass]

Thanks! And thank you for ID'ing that, I wasn't able to quite figure that one out myself. I went looking for more this evening but no such luck. Lots of wheaties, clad ( a clad quarter that almost gave me a heart attack- damn these new quarters with a different reverse side every year) and some other interesting items I'll clean and post. Can't identify the symbol on this latest find so far ( I also posted in the "Help ID" forum):

View attachment 580920

Turns out this is a Victorian "T" thanks to @gummy

 

[Chroma]

I agree with Tom, depth isn't everything. Also Spanish coins lost their status as legal tender with the Coinage Act of 1857. But according to Wikipedia, these foreign coins continued to circulate in rural areas decades after the Act was passed. So it is hard to say when your coin was lost, but fun to speculate...

A very fun find. I recently found a half real that is also very wiped of detail. Just enough left to identify it.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

.... But according to Wikipedia, these foreign coins continued to circulate in rural areas decades after the Act was passed. .....

Good point. I have seen reales (albeit uncommon) show up in an oldtown sidewalk tear-out, in a city that didn't come into being till the early 1870s. I can't remember the date on that particular one(s), but suffice it to say, no one was making distinction between Spanish & Mexican reales at the time. So It's *possible* that a 1790s Spanish reale could therefore still have been circulating into the 1870s. But very rare, I would say. By the 1860s they were becoming a thing of the past (at least here where I'm at in CA).

So while I would dispute one being still in circulation in 1900, yet I can grant "100" for the times when they WERE circulating. Because we've found reales that were literally nothing but a slick disc (every single design point worn off smooth).

 

[relsass]

I agree with Tom, depth isn't everything. Also Spanish coins lost their status as legal tender with the Coinage Act of 1857. But according to Wikipedia, these foreign coins continued to circulate in rural areas decades after the Act was passed. So it is hard to say when your coin was lost, but fun to speculate...

A very fun find. I recently found a half real that is also very wiped of detail. Just enough left to identify it.

Interesting perspective. I hammered the area ( 30"x30" next to a barn/garden) later in the day for a couple hours, pulling only modern clad, wheeties and some aluminum trash. I'll be covering the whole property now... I have to find the others.

With square nails all over the place, I will have to hone my skills, zero the discrimination etc... Just with this heat I don't want to lose my permission destroying the yard. Some rain, and I'll get out there and cherry pick the whole area before getting meticulous...

Yes, I am just thankful I got a date and ID... otherwise I would have assumed it was a worn-down merc or jewelry.

 

[IDXMonster]

Being a coin hunter, I can just assume that every coin hunters dream find is a Reale of some kind, especially if they’re west of the east coast! That’s certainly a bit of a toaster but it doesn’t matter one bit, the fact the date is there is the only thing that counts. We don’t find those in the Midwest, I’ve heard of 2 or 3 since 2010 on the forums. One of the guys who found one around here has disappeared from the forums, whatever that means, but it it’s hard to do. Anywhere. What a fantastic piece to just look at and think…

 

[metaladdict]

Congrats on your Reale, Only way I can find one is to go visit Tom's town and get lucky.