Eight Reale

[sharkman]

Just signed on to T Net, been detecting since 1980.
About 10 yrs ago I found this spanish eight reale (I think). Finding this coin was a real thrill!
Found your Cob site and see that there's a lot of you guys that read this site and know a lot about the spanish coins. I would like to know if anybody can fill me in on any info that you may have concerning this coin, it would be appreciated!

HH/sharkman/rod

[Mackaydon]

Shark:
Welcome to Treasure Net and Happy New Year.
If an '8' it will weigh about 27 grams ;proportionate for a '4', '2,' '1' etc.
The globe or sphere at the end of the crosses indicates Mexico City mint; reaffirmed by the M (small 'o') on the other side.
The cob will contain about 92/93% silver; depending on the era.
Shields are distinctive to each monarch. No doubt yours will soon be ID-ed giving you date range for the minting of this coin.
Don.....

[sharkman]

Thanks for your reply Don.

Forgot to give weight! It is 26.5 grams, weighed on my scale.

HH/Sharkman/Rod

[Iron Patch]

An 8 reale cob is a heck of a find. Land or shore site? Very few are ever found on land.

[sharkman]

Thanks for the reply IP.....

I like to read your posts.

The reale was found by a small fresh water lake.....where it was found is now under concrete.

My wife and I were hunting together when I found it....and as soon as I got the dirt off of it, and saw the cross, I knew what it was.
I showed it to her and she didn't know what it was.

HH/Sharkman/Rod

[Iron Patch]

Thanks for the reply IP.....

I like to read your posts.

The reale was found by a small fresh water lake.....where it was found is now under concrete.

My wife and I were hunting together when I found it....and as soon as I got the dirt off of it, and saw the cross, I knew what it was.
I showed it to her and she didn't know what it was.

HH/Sharkman/Rod

I have found quite a few but all are small, no bigger than a 1 real. Our best old sites are hunted hard, and these just don't turn up as random finds anywhere else, so chances are I'll never get a bigger one but am happy with the ones I have. The value of these make them VERY easy to keep.

[Cool Hand Fluke]

About a week after sharkman found this Spanish silver he took me to the spot where he found it. Hard to believe that was over 10 years ago. I believe due to the location of where the coin was found it could have been a Spanish camp site from the 1700's? The coin could have been a lost item from one of Californians early settlers? It was found near some old redwood trees that were hundreds of yeas old. Or it even could have been a recently lost coin. Who knows?

[realeswatcher]

Out of curiosity, how did the piece come out of the ground? Did you use any chemicals and/or electrolysis, or did you basically just brush/water soak the dirt off and this was the result?

The design is that of a fairly early piece... Mexico 8 Reales, 1607 or earlier (note it is pre-dating... you can see the bottom of (GRA)TIA to the NW of the shield where the date would be on later pieces). Appears to be an assayer F piece, rather than the earlier assayer O (the tips of the horizontal lines of "F" may also be visible there)... it's late Philip II or early Philip III (ca. 1590-1607).

[sharkman]

Thanks Mike.

Thanks for the reply, Realeswatcher. The Reale only saw soap & water. Looked about like this when it came out of the ground. Befoe San Francisco, there were only 2 large bodies of fresh water, Mt. Lake Park and the lake at Stern Grove. All the other water in the S.F. area were small springs or seeps of water. The area that this coin was found is now under concrete. All the other silver coins that we found in this area have come out of the ground in relatively good shape. I found this coin with a cz-6 at about 8". Don't know of any other Spanish coins from this area that were found there. I was totally amazed. I know that Mike found a Barber Half there also.

HH/Sharkman/Rod