What?!? Who cut a silver coin into quarters?!?

k2gleaner

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Jan 27, 2019
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NC
Had an unexpectedly wonderful time detecting this week. I've been to this field before and found two buttons and a bunch of tacks (upholstery?).

My first find was only a couple minutes in on my first pass - the large flat button in the pics. Sweet. Love buttons. I was also happy b/c I started swinging quite a distance from the old cabin nearby.

The day after a friend of mine showed some of his found watch-winding keys - and me thinking I'd never find one - Boom! It was my second find. Cleaning it home revealed the more intricate detail. I've hardly seen any of these but I find it to be one of the prettiest I've seen.

I dug a lot of buckshot (buck and ball?) and a good number of tacks. Another button or two.! I was getting a little discouraged in the sense that I really wanted to find a coin.! I was picturing a nice large cent. The only one i have is so rough I can't determine any details.

Then, came a pretty nice signal - my most promising of the day up to that point.

It was odd - I missed it with the plug and had to scoop the sidewall out a bit. I reached in with my hand, scooped the soil out and did a double-take. There was a quarter-round piece of silver-looking metal laying there.

I was in shock and wishing my son was there to experience this with me. He'd have been the one most like to have the pinpointer in his hand and would've been the guy to find it.

I actually took a break from detecting shortly after that and later, when leaving, found ANOTHER one, as I worked my way back to the truck. So, the first 2-reale piece was found near the old cabin that's just inside the woods and the 2nd piece was found over 100 yards away.

AND, while not from the same piece of silver, the two pieces are a matching pair, making up one half of the same coin. It's not the side with a year on it, though, and since I know nothing about these coins, I'd love some help identifying it.


Alan




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Thanks, Tom & Ground Sweeper.

I don't quite know how to determine the age. I googled "reale" and "Phillipus" and get stuff close to the 1730s.

I'm dying to know more.


Looks like a reale of sorts? 8 reale?

I forgot to say it in my post. Yes, I believe they are each one fourth of an 8-reale coin (2 reales). I don't know the lingo well enough to talk fluently about it. I just think "pieces of eight" when I see them pictured.



Amazing finding the pieces of the same cut coin.

I don't think they're from the same coin - the cut doesn't seem to match.



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2 bits, 4 bits

Colonists in British North America were not allowed to mint money of their own, even though they often ran out of English coins to use in day-to-day business. Instead, they resorted to using whatever coinage they could get their hands on. The most common coin used during this time was the silver Spanish dollar, which was worth 8 “reales,” a unit of currency in Spain.

Back then, coins were valued by their actual weight in silver or gold, not just on what they looked like. Spanish coins were preferred over other currency because they had a milled, or patterned, edge, which prevented dishonest traders from shaving slivers off the coins without being detected.

In fact, it was expected that, to make change, they literally cut the coins into 8 pieces or “bits.” Hence, the British called the Spanish dollar a “Piece of Eight,” and when they said something cost “two bits,” they meant it cost a quarter of a dollar.
 
Great finds! The pieces of eight are very nice! Amazing that you found two pieces of it! Imagine making change by cutting your coins! I believe they were legal tender in the US until 1857.
 
Without the actual date on the coin, you will not get an exact date, however Phillip reigned from 1700-1746. That is some serious age for the colonies! Congrats on the early Spanish silver!
 
Amazes me what you folks find in the NE US. So much more history there, than where I am. Congratulations! I only see that kind of stuff in a museum or online! HH!
 
Great site and Great finds !! The silver has the Aqueduct Mint mark of Segovia and was minted under Philip V. The spelling PHILLIPUS was used after 1718. Congrats, hope you get the boy out there for the next.
 
Looks too clean cut to have been done during its circulation, but that's how they made purchases at time, they would cut a silver coin, pieces of eight etc and pay according to how much silver an item was worth.
A neat item if authentic, would love to find that one day, that's an extreme bucket lister for me.
 
Thanks, Tom & Ground Sweeper.

I don't quite know how to determine the age. I googled "reale" and "Phillipus" and get stuff close to the 1730s.

I'm dying to know more.




I forgot to say it in my post. Yes, I believe they are each one fourth of an 8-reale coin (2 reales). I don't know the lingo well enough to talk fluently about it. I just think "pieces of eight" when I see them pictured.





I don't think they're from the same coin - the cut doesn't seem to match.



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Some pics---1730's
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From the size, looks to be about a U.S. quarter, my guess is that it is Cut Spanish Two Reales. Also known as "Sharpies" due to the sharp edges from being cut.

2 Reales - Felipe V 1716-1740
 
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Unless I'm mistaken in this, I love it that it was minted in Seville, Spain.


k2gleaner
 
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