Found Spanish silver 4 Reale? Along the Maine coast

bootstrap vinn

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Apr 25, 2006
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Found Spanish silver 4 Reale? Along the Maine coast w/pics

Hello everyone, been a while since I've logged on but I just had to share this one. I can find no date but I don't think the early ones had a date. Its about 1 3/8" in diameter. I had it cleaned in a jewelers ultrasonic blaster as it was nearly impossible to see enough detail to identify it before. I believe it to be a 4 Reale Spanish silver cob. If you know for sure what it is I'd appreciate your help.
It's the strangest story how I found it. We were camping (somewhere along the Maine coast):wink: and were planning on detecting but someone had been in the area before us and had left a bunch of holes unfilled, Idiot! So my bro and I decided we would go around and fill in all the holes we found before we would bother taking our machines out so as to avoid the nasty looks and comments from anyone else who may be in the area. As we reached the end of our mission I just happened to spy this thing right on top of the ground in the middle of a trail with no holes anywhere around! At first I thought its just a sea worn rock almost a perfect circle then I thought the old Spanish coins aren't perfectly round so I picked it up. Immediately I started to see enough detail to have a good idea what I had. I said "hey bro do ya know what I got?" "Spanish silver!!!" We immediately start hooting and high fivin' shaking hands and hugging.
My Dad suggested maybe the guy we were filling holes after found it and lost it. It was impressed into the trail though as if it had just been exposed due to erosion. I have a hard time believing someone would find something like this and not take every precaution to ensure that it not be lost. Personally I would swallow it and collect it later in a colander before I took any chances of losing it! We took our detectors back to the spot and searched all around and found nothing else. The area is reputed to have a pirate treasure somewhere so we'll definitely go back.
I've looked at a lot of pics online but can't find one just like it. It has a very prominent R to the right of the shield and appears to be a P to the left. Any help with positive I.D. again, would be appreciated. Thanks for reading, Bootstrap :icon_pirat:
 

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Upvote 2

Mackaydon

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I can't open your thumbnails but I can tell you a fast way to determine the denomination: If your coin weighs about 13.54 grams or slightly less, it's a 4R. And if the date is unreadable, there are still ways to determine a close range of the mint date if the monarch and/or the assayer's initials are legible.
Don....
 

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JohnnyMac

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A few people have said that they are having problems posting pics today
 

Sawyer

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It sounds like you have done the swallowing and colander thing before! How did you come up with such a plan? Congrats on a very nice find, that would never happen to me due to "old eyes"! I hope you can narrow down the date a lot more precisely! Keep looking and good luck to you!
 

recondigger

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Wow congrats that's what get for doing the right thing

Scouts out!
 

Bill D. (VA)

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I can't find an exact match, but the style is nearly identical to the early 1600s cob style 4 reales shown in my Krause book. Maybe that will give you a good starting point. I'll keep looking too, but I feel fairly confident on the dating. Great find!! Actually, if its 1-3/8" in diameter it may actually be a slightly clipped 8 reales coin. And in the last pic the date would be at the top center of the coin, and I think I can see the "1" just left of center. But from the pic it appears the rest of the digits are gone.
 

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bootstrap vinn

bootstrap vinn

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It sounds like you have done the swallowing and colander thing before! How did you come up with such a plan? Congrats on a very nice find, that would never happen to me due to "old eyes"! I hope you can narrow down the date a lot more precisely! Keep looking and good luck to you!
Thanks Sawyer, I actually got that from an episode of "Two and a Half Men" When Chelsea swallowed her engagement ring by mistake LOL. Thanks for the reply,
Bootstrap:icon_pirat:
 

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bootstrap vinn

bootstrap vinn

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BuckleBoy

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I'll be honest, I'm worried about the authenticity of this coin. Let's hope it's real. Would you be willing to weigh it?
 

screwynewy

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Congrats, I bet you did get excited to see that pop up. I'm no Spanish silver expert but I wonder if the "R" stamp stands for replica? For your sake I hope its a real reale.
 

CRUSADER

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Why am I left the one to do this all the time. Well, I hate to say, but as you asked for an ID, I will give my thoughts:
Its a cast reproduction.
 

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bootstrap vinn

bootstrap vinn

Sr. Member
Apr 25, 2006
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Central Maine
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Why am I left the one to do this all the time. Well, I hate to say, but as you asked for an ID, I will give my thoughts:
Its a cast reproduction.
Thanks for your input all! I hate to say it but the thought has crossed my mind and I definitely haven't ruled it out that it could be a repro. I'm taking it to a coin shop later today hopefully and maybe they'll be able to tell me more. I have no way to weigh it BuckleBoy. I was hoping the R was Rincon the assayers mark but where it is so clear compared to every other detail on the coin it could very well be R for reproduction. I'll keep you posted, Bootstrap :icon_pirat:
 

Mackaydon

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I agree with bootstrap; the assayer's mark appears to be a post mint addition due to its clarity of strike compared to the condition of the balance of the coin. And, yes, the question of the weight remains unknown since I first asked that question in post #2.
Don.
 

gordonquixote

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I found a fake/reproduction/souveneir last year that blew my mind for a few minutes. It is obviously silver plated copper...I noticed the copper showing through on a scratch. Trust me...the picture does it no justice. It looks awesome in person....when I pulled it out of the mud my hands started shaking.

2012-05-18_15-04-15_62.jpg




It looks like yours is showing lots of copper and the 'R' looks like modern print type.

I hope it's just poor pics, but I would think a real oldie like that would be black by now.
 

steelheadwill

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Great Story and find ! I was thinking that the previous visitors had gotten their digger stuck on a root and when it broke free the coin went flying thru the air to land where you found it.
(I did this to myself at a foundation site and later was wondering how a seated love token could possibly be on the surface
at such a remote site, then I remembered my digger suddenly breaking free, and thought I had just lost the target in heavy iron)
This may have been a 'gift' from the ones who didn't fill the holes. patina is odd. will be watching for updates.
Hoping for the best !!
 

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