Hi Seth,
That's an interesting find you related. I'd have to guess there's another entrance much nearer where the coins were found. Hard to believe that guy walked in approximately 9 miles - that's gutsy. Wonder if you could find the Indian and discuss story with him. If an Indian knew about it, given the dates, I would bet an Indian war party ambushed a Spanish expedition or other mining party in the area and hid the coins. I'd also suggest you go to the link on Jonathan Swift Silver mines - this could be related.
Another possibility - is the silver was mined local and minted locally using a die made to resemble an 8 reale Spanish cob from Mexico City mint. You might want to take that cob to a dealer or two and ask them to authenticate and see if anything unusual comes up - I wouldn't relate the story of how you came by it. I have a copy of a book on Swift you might want to try and get a hold of. I'll need to check around to find it. Good luck but be careful on this one.
That's an interesting find you related. I'd have to guess there's another entrance much nearer where the coins were found. Hard to believe that guy walked in approximately 9 miles - that's gutsy. Wonder if you could find the Indian and discuss story with him. If an Indian knew about it, given the dates, I would bet an Indian war party ambushed a Spanish expedition or other mining party in the area and hid the coins. I'd also suggest you go to the link on Jonathan Swift Silver mines - this could be related.
Another possibility - is the silver was mined local and minted locally using a die made to resemble an 8 reale Spanish cob from Mexico City mint. You might want to take that cob to a dealer or two and ask them to authenticate and see if anything unusual comes up - I wouldn't relate the story of how you came by it. I have a copy of a book on Swift you might want to try and get a hold of. I'll need to check around to find it. Good luck but be careful on this one.
