Recent Cob Find?

iwhitley

Jr. Member
May 3, 2013
32
29
Virginia
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro, Garrett Pro pointer, Trex Sand scoop, Piranha Shovel
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Okay,

I posted this on todays finds yesterday and got the feedback that it is a spanish cob so I thought I would post it here to maybe get some more information on the coin. What type and where from. I know I can see part of the shield but I can't figure out or match the opposite side with anything that has the shield on it. Found it in a Bean field in Isle of Wight Virginia.

Thanks,

Ivan






pieceof1.jpg pieceof2.jpg
 

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iwhitley

iwhitley

Jr. Member
May 3, 2013
32
29
Virginia
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro, Garrett Pro pointer, Trex Sand scoop, Piranha Shovel
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Carolus III Monogram-Spanish--silver.
What you see on one side is the "S" in Carolus
Don....
PS: Like this:
_c010032.jpg

_c010031.jpg

Thanks Don

So from what I have found after you set me on the right path.

Type: Pretender Archduke Carlos III Spanish Silver 2 Reales
Origin: Spain Cat. Num.: KM# PT5
Era / Ruler: Pretender Archduke Carlos III Face Value: 2 Reales
Issued from: 1707 Issue until: 1714
Alignment: Medal Designer/s:
Reverse: Crowned 'CAROLVS' monogram in inner circle, date in legend
Obverse: Crowned arms
Edge:

Thanks for the help on this.

Ivan
 

Mackaydon

Gold Member
Oct 26, 2004
23,935
22,520
N. San Diego Pic of my 2 best 'finds'; son & g/son
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You're welcome.
The actual denomination of the coin is to the right of the crest; beyond the edge or your coin--though the "R" for 'real' is visible to the left of the crest on your coin. I'm unaware if this same design is or isn't on a coin of another denomination. If so, the weight of your coin would determine its probably denomination.
Don.......
 

EnriqueMayor

Jr. Member
Dec 13, 2013
30
4
Madrid
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Teknetics T2
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hi friends!

Very good comment, Mackaydon.
This coin was cut. Maybe it happened to have half value.This was a practice widely used in the colonial Spain.

As already mentioned, weight helps to know its denomination.
I think this coin is 2 reales, but after being cut, it was converted in 1 Real (Barcelona Mint)

What a great find in Virginia! Congratulations!

It is only an opinion and I can be wrong. I hope forgive my english and you give me some of your :D

A greeting,
Henry
 

realeswatcher

Full Member
Sep 1, 2010
120
24
As has been mentioned, this is a portion of a pistareen 2R of "Charles III" , the Hapsburg contender for the throne who controlled Barcelona/Catalonia for a while before the Bourbon Philip V ultimately won out. Of course, various cut portions of early 1700's homeland Spain pistareens are pretty common finds in coastal Virginia and down into the Carolinas. This particular piece is a curious one... the typical division of these was a neat half or quarter pie cut (often with some cheating downward). This one, however, looks crudely hand-clipped, and I'm not sure what exactly whoever did this was trying to make it equivalent to - it looks to be about 35% to maybe 40% at most of the original coin. Perhaps they were cutting this down to make it equivalent to colonial-standard half-real... which would still be the cob-style half R at this time, perhaps explaining the crude shape?? The pistareens were a devalued iteration of the reales coinage - the weight of the pistareen of this time was often around 5._ grams, off the full-size colonial standard 2R of about 6.8g. A colonial half real cob was, in line with that, about 1.7g as made... so if the original coin uncut was 5.3g or thereabouts, something around a 1/3rd-cut would pretty much yield a colonial standard 1/2R (and those did circulate frequently throughout the 13 Colonies).

Viewing a piece with the right alignment always helps to visualize things more... see rotated pic:
 

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iwhitley

iwhitley

Jr. Member
May 3, 2013
32
29
Virginia
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro, Garrett Pro pointer, Trex Sand scoop, Piranha Shovel
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
As has been mentioned, this is a portion of a pistareen 2R of "Charles III" , the Hapsburg contender for the throne who controlled Barcelona/Catalonia for a while before the Bourbon Philip V ultimately won out. Of course, various cut portions of early 1700's homeland Spain pistareens are pretty common finds in coastal Virginia and down into the Carolinas. This particular piece is a curious one... the typical division of these was a neat half or quarter pie cut (often with some cheating downward). This one, however, looks crudely hand-clipped, and I'm not sure what exactly whoever did this was trying to make it equivalent to - it looks to be about 35% to maybe 40% at most of the original coin. Perhaps they were cutting this down to make it equivalent to colonial-standard half-real... which would still be the cob-style half R at this time, perhaps explaining the crude shape?? The pistareens were a devalued iteration of the reales coinage - the weight of the pistareen of this time was often around 5._ grams, off the full-size colonial standard 2R of about 6.8g. A colonial half real cob was, in line with that, about 1.7g as made... so if the original coin uncut was 5.3g or thereabouts, something around a 1/3rd-cut would pretty much yield a colonial standard 1/2R (and those did circulate frequently throughout the 13 Colonies).

Viewing a piece with the right alignment always helps to visualize things more... see rotated pic:

I appreciate all the information provided on this find! It is what makes this find so special for me.
 

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