Cob Found Upstate Ny , Need The Experts !!

[Derek752]

Greetings ....

I've been searching a indian castle site in upstate Ny that was described in Van Den Bogaert's journal of 1634 and attacked by the Dutch in the 1660's.
Yesterday I dug my first coin from the site...a cob !! Not my first cob find in the Mohawk valley but certainly the oldest !!

I'm a cob novice...heck Im a know NOTHING cob person

Pretty sure its a 2 reale and it is similar to the 1622's I looked at from the Atocha website.
Its pretty worn on the front but the back still has decent detail !

Any and all replys appreciated

HH !

Derek

[cavers5]

I'm not a cob person, either, but if it was me, I would send it off to be authenticated! I don't know which company is the best place to send it, though. Maybe somebody else might have a suggestion on that?

Congrats! Congrats!

Cavers5

[them72]

WoW!!!! Realy nice find .Bet there is more there. Keep us posted . I am in new york my self and realy like see stuff found here.I am hunting sites in the 1800's .My goal this year is to find a coin in the 1700"s. thanks for the pics ted

[Gilligan]

Try this forum, post a pic and surely they will ID it. They did for me. http://www.forumancientcoins.com/

[JOe L]

Derek, NY'er too and GREAT FIND, congrats. JOe

[Derek752]

Thanks everyone for the replies

Derek

[Moe (fl)]

Looks like a 2-reale Phillip IV Bogota (Colombia) cob.

Nice find!

[Michigan Badger]

Outstanding find!

That's must of been some thrill to see that come up?

Badge

[DanB]

Nicccccceeee cob......good job...keep up the good work.


db

[Trez]

Looks like a 2-reale Phillip IV Bogota (Colombia) cob.

Nice find!

OK Moe, I've been laying back on this one...but I'll bite.
How did you come up with Bogota (Columbia) as for the ID?


Trez

[Moe (fl)]

It was a guess! I ruled out Mexico, Lima, and Potosi. The shape (form) gives some clues.

[Trez]

It was a guess! I ruled out Mexico, Lima, and Potosi. The shape (form) gives some clues.

Shape/form gives some clues, can you elaborate more...and how did you rule out Lima and Potosi? if you care to explain. I enjoy learning new things...I feel like HAL.

Trez

[Tricia]

Been on a couple of real archaeological digs in Central New York (have BA in Anthropology) having to do with Native settlements, have to say you may have a good piece there. We never came across anything related to trade in coinage. Well the sites we studied were older than 17th century but there are a number of rivers and trade routes all through CNY.

There's no such thing as an Indian Castle though. Did you mean an encampment or a village? There were pallisaded villages. You can send me a note privately if you don't want to give away your locale and I'll tell you what I can remember about the history of the Iroquois in the area.

Happy hunting.

[Tricia]

P.S.

I think I know what you mean by Indian "castle" but don't know if any of the buildings are still standing. Perhaps you are hunting a site that used to have a building from the colonial era?

That makes perfect sense.

[Derek752]

Derek....

Watching quietly the Trez / Moe conversation about my cob

[Moe (fl)]

After closer observation this shield type cob appears to be a Philip-II (1556-1598) not Philip-IV as I suggested earlier. Because of this fact this cob cannot be from Colombian mints which started producing after 1620.

I am now thinking that this cob could be Potosi, Lima, or Panama mint. Trez was correct!

I am not sure but can almost see a P and a star * on the left side of the shield. The P is above. The star is in the square below. But, the star may also be the lion or a '4' (for 4-reales). If the P and star were there it would be a Lima cob.

How much does it weigh? from the pic it looks like a 2R or 4R.

-Moe

[Trez]

Eliminate Lima and then Panama

Happy Holiday,

Trez

[Moe (fl)]

Ok Trez, now it is my turn. What do you see that it makes you go with Potosi?

HH!

-Moe

[Trez]

Don't get me wrong Moe...

LIMA - Can't be...They never minted Shield cobs after the late 1580s.

Panama...Same as above pretty much, but rarer.

I'll stick with Potosi and if not that...then one that was struck in Spain.

So, anyway....find some more.

Trez

[Moe (fl)]

Ok. I may agree with Potosi (3rd period?), but the Lima mint did produce Hapsburg shield type cobs during Philip II. There are some 4-reales shield types from Lima.

Regarding this cob it seems a rare find! I too was thinking that it may be from a Spanish mint (i.e. Seville).

Here are three Philip II shield type cob pics for comparison.

2R from Seville mint: www.ancientcoins.ca/20970.jpg

4R from Potosi mint: www.ancientcoins.ca/20969.jpg

1R from Potosi mint: www.ancientcoins.ca/20977.jpg

Good conversation. Happy Hunting to all!
Moe