My First Spanish Silver ... A Cut 2-Bit Piece

[KYshooter]

This is (so far) my first and only Spanish silver find. It's a 1/4 cut piece, and in remarkably good condition. It must have been dropped soon after being cut, if not at the actual time it was cut.



It is a precious find for me, and I will never part with it.

But I am curious ... how is something like this valued? Is there a "market" or interest in cut pieces?

Thanks, everybody!

[stevemc]

I would hang on to it too. It looks like a late 1700s. Maybe, most likely 1790s. I dont know what one of those brings, but I would keep it.

[KYshooter]

I would hang on to it too. It looks like a late 1700s. Maybe, most likely 1790s. I dont know what one of those brings, but I would keep it.

For sure, it's a Carolus IV ... 1791-99.

I dug this in a field in Kentucky, at an old home site.

Just wondering about the collectibility of authentic cut pieces.

[stevemc]

It is in great shape.

[Bobbcue]

NICE RECOVERY...

[novafinder]

been looking for at least a piece of one of those for a long time nice find !

[cntrydncr1]

great find!! congrats!

[realeswatcher]

Definitely a decent market for cut reales... Most of what pops up on eBay (and also in these forums) are quarter-cuts of "pistareens" (the Spain 2 Reales coin). The pistareen generally passed for 20 cents, as they contained less silver than the colonial version of the 2R aka "2 bits" minted in Mexico, Peru, etc., so the quarter-cuts functioned as a half dime/5 cents. Actually, someone just posted 4 or 5 of these for sale on eBay earlier today...

From the dimensions of the design and your title, however, yours appears to be a quarter-cut of a full 8 Reales coin, yes? Correct on the (colonial type) 1791-99 Charles IIII attribution... Cut pieces of 8 reales are less frequently encountered, and I'd definitely think it should be worth more than the cut pistareen pieces. Hard to value these precisely as compared to a regular coin - more of a "how much is it worth to you?" type of artifact... With a nice writeup of how/where you found it (the origins/provenance are obviously part of the draw with something like this), maybe $60-80 or so, rough estimate? Definitely a nice find in solid condition.

[KYshooter]

Definitely a decent market for cut reales... Most of what pops up on eBay (and also in these forums) are quarter-cuts of "pistareens" (the Spain 2 Reales coin). The pistareen generally passed for 20 cents, as they contained less silver than the colonial version of the 2R aka "2 bits" minted in Mexico, Peru, etc., so the quarter-cuts functioned as a half dime/5 cents. Actually, someone just posted 4 or 5 of these for sale on eBay earlier today...

From the dimensions of the design and your title, however, yours appears to be a quarter-cut of a full 8 Reales coin, yes? Correct on the (colonial type) 1791-99 Charles IIII attribution... Cut pieces of 8 reales are less frequently encountered, and I'd definitely think it should be worth more than the cut pistareen pieces. Hard to value these precisely as compared to a regular coin - more of a "how much is it worth to you?" type of artifact... With a nice writeup of how/where you found it (the origins/provenance are obviously part of the draw with something like this), maybe $60-80 or so, rough estimate? Definitely a nice find in solid condition.

Yes, this is a 1/4 cut of a full 8 reale. A huge chunk, and very thick ... I should have included a shot of the edge of the coin. I'll try to find one.