Cabo de Barra - Not!

[divewrecks]

The term "cob" is suggested by many references to come from the Spanish phrase "cabo de barra", or "end of the bar". Having worked with metals I never could see the sense of chiseling, chopping or sawing cob blanks from the end of a bar of material. Much easier said than done, especially if you have never tried it yourself. Yet many references with brief descriptions of minting practices imply this was how cobs were made.

My personal study of Mexican 1715 fleet cobs and more recently the 1730 "cave hoard" coins (see thread) led me to conclude that the blanks (more correctly planchets or flans) were hammered from poured puddles or "straps" of molten silver. In fact, I noticed on many of the cave coins I studied (which appeared uncirculated) the shapes were rectangular with two or three "as cast" edges and one that was obviously sheared.

While browsing the new Sedwick auction catalog last night I was enthused by the following article:

http://www.sedwickcoins.com/treasureauction7/strap.htm

I'm already looking at my cave coin pics to see if I can put together my own strap! (http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.p...,214206.0.html)

In closing I'll mention a good source on Mexican coin shapes from this period. Alan Craig's book on silver coins in the Florida collection - definitely an essential reference if you enjoy or collect these coins....

http://www.amazon.com/Spanish-Coloni.../dp/0813017483

Stan

[MORE AND BEYOND OSSY]

Love your work Stan Great information
Sam