🥇 BANNER Exceedingly rare Caribbean Countermarked Silver Coin Found (1 of 3 known)!

Devonrex

Sr. Member
Jan 6, 2012
351
1,260
SE Virginia
🥇 Banner finds
4
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS, Nautilus DMC IIB
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I've been fortunate during the month of March and been able to get out metal detecting at my new spot one day each week. In fact last week I was able to get out twice! This new area is close to where I found many French war buttons a few years back. In my last post I had finally dug a cuff 18 (Gatanois regiment) This was a number I had never dug before. Well last week I found myself my second one! This one was practically lying on TOP of the ground ....just under the leaves! It turned out to be a beautiful cuff 8 (Bearn regiment). Although I did find a coat 8 in 2012, I had never found a cuff 8!!! Not more than 10 inches from the cuff 8 I got another reading which turned out to be a solid silver knee buckle! The soil is almost 50 percent sand at this site so I could immediately see the WC and what looked like 2 lions stamped in the back. Other finds that day included a cuff eagle button, a couple of brass pieces to a Civil War shoulder scale, a brass very early, crude set of cufflinks and a small kepi buckle. Now to the the previous week. At the same spot I had barely turned onmy Nautilus DMC IIb when I dug a dropped Gardner, followed by a beautiful engraved brass keyhole to either a large chest or door. Now is when things get interesting. The only coin I had dug in this spot was a 1736 - 1795 Kao T'sung (Chien - Lung Dynasty) Chinese Coin. This was a strange find to dig here and the first I had ever found. Well, in the immediate area where I had dug my cuff 18, I started to move all the fallen logs out of the way. You don't realize how many good finds I have found over the years by doing this! Well not more that 8 feet from where the cuff 18 was found I got that good brassy two tone beep I love to hear! After digging down just 4 inches out popps a silver coin!!! Again because of the soil conditions I could immediately see a crown, the number 3, and another symbol counterstamped in the coin . The coin was also holed and from the design on the back I knew I had either a French, British, or Spanish coin (even though it was heavily worn). I can remember thinking "Could this be some sort of regimental Rev War ID tag?" I couldn't really detect anymore after finding this coin and I immediately went home. Once home I posted my finds on my Facebook page and not more than 5 minutes later my good friend and dealer Paul Chandler wrote what I wanted to hear. "You are correct! This is only the third Rev War regimental ID tag I have seen in 35years of dealing and digging! I was speechless. I have never found a Civil War ID tag after 30 years of digging and here I had just found a Rev War regimental ID tag! Well I immediately needed confirmation from Don Troini, the authority on Rev War artifacts. If you dig and ever find a rev war relic of importance he is the man to contact! I posted on his Facebook Rev War page and the discussion was intense! He, however, is unsure as to what this is. He did say the crown was not in the shape of a British crown so he didn't think it was British. Others said it was a bale seal or a coin weight. Well friends....... I've been digging, as I said for over 30 years, and I know whithout a shadow of a doubt this is no bale seal, or coin weight. Coin weights are always made out of brass...... and this was a silver coin at first ! And a silver bale seal ....HAHAHA. Now back to the silver knee buckle I just dug. After I got home I immediately posted this on facebook and within minutes another friend sent me a link to early 1700's British silversmiths. This link is a wealth of knowledge. All the initials of British silversmiths were shown. Listed clearly was the silversmith WC. William Cripps .....circa 1757!!! Also shown were all the other marks associated with early British silver smiths. Suddenly I knew what the mark below the 3 was on my counterstamped coin. It is a assay mark OR Towne mark showing purity of silver and is associated with a town or city in a country such as Britain or France! I am going to send some pictures of the tag over the internet to some people over in England and see if they can help me decipher what mark this is........ I still feel this could be a Rev War soldiers regimental tag. Whether it is British of French or Hessian ........ I don not know. What I do know is it is DEFINITELY NOT a bale seal or coin weight. If I had an authority on early world silver coins, they could also probably tell me based on the reverse of the coin what country the coin is from and what dates. You can bet I will be metal detecting at this site again soon!!! HH Devonrex
 

Attachments

  • 1928924_10201594097972048_4123680811162559235_n.jpg
    1928924_10201594097972048_4123680811162559235_n.jpg
    88.2 KB · Views: 728
  • 12829456_10201576376329018_7594683797175936517_o.jpg
    12829456_10201576376329018_7594683797175936517_o.jpg
    264.2 KB · Views: 549
  • 12819230_10201576377769054_377964480292203410_o.jpg
    12819230_10201576377769054_377964480292203410_o.jpg
    137.9 KB · Views: 610
  • 12440258_10201607862036141_2281810135295542673_o.jpg
    12440258_10201607862036141_2281810135295542673_o.jpg
    166.9 KB · Views: 443
  • 12768340_10201528166043791_538008035201930402_o.jpg
    12768340_10201528166043791_538008035201930402_o.jpg
    189.5 KB · Views: 442
Last edited:
Upvote 41
OP
OP
Devonrex

Devonrex

Sr. Member
Jan 6, 2012
351
1,260
SE Virginia
🥇 Banner finds
4
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS, Nautilus DMC IIB
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
More pictures
 

Attachments

  • 12841195_10201564202424678_9115290207772897176_o.jpg
    12841195_10201564202424678_9115290207772897176_o.jpg
    140.3 KB · Views: 397
  • 12672089_10201607779874087_351055978687141449_o.jpg
    12672089_10201607779874087_351055978687141449_o.jpg
    165 KB · Views: 402
  • 11701011_10201607491626881_9201904499050066607_o.jpg
    11701011_10201607491626881_9201904499050066607_o.jpg
    253.9 KB · Views: 405
  • 12496144_10201607929677832_881047618692888488_o.jpg
    12496144_10201607929677832_881047618692888488_o.jpg
    155.9 KB · Views: 430
OP
OP
Devonrex

Devonrex

Sr. Member
Jan 6, 2012
351
1,260
SE Virginia
🥇 Banner finds
4
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS, Nautilus DMC IIB
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
MORE PICS
 

Attachments

  • 12828274_10201545483596719_4945654190690808904_o.jpg
    12828274_10201545483596719_4945654190690808904_o.jpg
    286.9 KB · Views: 370
  • 12794996_10201607769153819_2627691869216910764_o.jpg
    12794996_10201607769153819_2627691869216910764_o.jpg
    207.1 KB · Views: 390
  • 12440215_10201607532427901_4007946765809691488_o.jpg
    12440215_10201607532427901_4007946765809691488_o.jpg
    267 KB · Views: 351
Last edited:

huntnva

Jr. Member
Nov 7, 2015
58
227
Virginia
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
Awesome...Keep pounding! What type of buckle is on top right? I've dug one very similar... Thanks
 

Attachments

  • 1458928092100.jpg
    1458928092100.jpg
    108.7 KB · Views: 348

metalev4

Bronze Member
Aug 12, 2006
1,165
565
interesting find John. Hope you able to determine more about it. Really nice early recoveries.
 

CRUSADER

Gold Member
May 25, 2007
40,820
45,226
ENGLAND
🥇 Banner finds
27
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
XP Deus II v0.6 with 11" Coil
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
The hallmark will not tell you that much because the Assayer & date letter are missing. All you have is the Lion for the standard silver mark & the makers mark, although where the maker lived would help.

I'm not convinced its a tag at all, looks like a silver smiths counterstamp, to prove the worn coin is tested as silver, many of these were holed.
 

CMDiamonddawg

Silver Member
Oct 14, 2009
4,498
974
Jersey Cape
Detector(s) used
Fisher 1265X & CZ-7
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Great hunt and not sure about your Rev War id theory . Your last pic is called a blinder, these are also known as peepers.... alum. devices fitted to, or through, the beaks of poultry to block their forward vision and assist in the control of feather pecking.
 

Ahab8

Gold Member
Oct 15, 2013
8,408
8,288
Topsham, Maine
🥇 Banner finds
2
Detector(s) used
Teknetics T2 SE w/15' SEF Coil/ Minelab GPX 4500/2 Garrett Pro Pointers/3 Sets Killer B Headphones/ Koss Headphones/ Detekniy Wireless headphone Adapter
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Wow those are truly killer finds DRex! Love them all. Great buttons and relics with an early military connection....hell yeah. I'm curious to hear more about the silver piece
 

OP
OP
Devonrex

Devonrex

Sr. Member
Jan 6, 2012
351
1,260
SE Virginia
🥇 Banner finds
4
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS, Nautilus DMC IIB
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Wow those are truly killer finds DRex! Love them all. Great buttons and relics with an early military connection....hell yeah. I'm curious to hear more about the silver piece
Thanks AHAB. I am very happy to find the two cuff buttons. It's been almost 4 years since I dug the last I found. THat site was phenomenal. I dug 56 French buttons there!!! I have dreams about it still!!!
 

Ahab8

Gold Member
Oct 15, 2013
8,408
8,288
Topsham, Maine
🥇 Banner finds
2
Detector(s) used
Teknetics T2 SE w/15' SEF Coil/ Minelab GPX 4500/2 Garrett Pro Pointers/3 Sets Killer B Headphones/ Koss Headphones/ Detekniy Wireless headphone Adapter
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Thanks AHAB. I am very happy to find the two cuff buttons. It's been almost 4 years since I dug the last I found. THat site was phenomenal. I dug 56 French buttons there!!! I have dreams about it still!!!

They really are an incredibly special find. I can see why you would dream about a spot like that my friend. 56 French buttons....that is hard to wrap your head around. Did the have the birdcage shank?
 

can

Hero Member
Dec 26, 2015
979
460
NC
Detector(s) used
xp DEUS, excal sword,ctx 3030, garrett carrot
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
very nice finds
 

OP
OP
Devonrex

Devonrex

Sr. Member
Jan 6, 2012
351
1,260
SE Virginia
🥇 Banner finds
4
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS, Nautilus DMC IIB
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
They really are an incredibly special find. I can see why you would dream about a spot like that my friend. 56 French buttons....that is hard to wrap your head around. Did the have the birdcage shank?
Every single one of them had the turret shank! And once it was all over with I had buttons from 16 different regiments! Don Troini joked with me and said I have found buttons from the entire French army! LOL I believe it was a hospital site for the wounded. THe camp was as virgin as they come! HH Devonrex
 

sutphin

Gold Member
Oct 2, 2013
8,344
4,466
brunswick md
Detector(s) used
WHITES 5900, MXT 300, MXT PRO, MXT ALL PRO/ 8X6 SEF COIL
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
DANG THERE REX NICE , NICE FINDS .
 

CASPER-2

Gold Member
Jan 3, 2012
17,153
19,933
NEW ENGLAND
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
6
Detector(s) used
WHITE'S XLT, PI PRO, GARRETT 2500, 3- FISHER CZ21s, JW FISHER 8X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
OP
OP
Devonrex

Devonrex

Sr. Member
Jan 6, 2012
351
1,260
SE Virginia
🥇 Banner finds
4
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS, Nautilus DMC IIB
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
The hallmark will not tell you that much because the Assayer & date letter are missing. All you have is the Lion for the standard silver mark & the makers mark, although where the maker lived would help.

I'm not convinced its a tag at all, looks like a silver smiths counterstamp, to prove the worn coin is tested as silver, many of these were holed.
Thanks Crusader, So you think this mighthave been just a silver coin that was tested by a silversmith and then counterstamped? Can you recognize this coin??? I know it is not an 18th century American coin. That has already been established on Don Troini's s group Facebook site. But is it British , French / and what era????? I have so many questions about this little piece of silver and no one seems to know where I should go to get answers. Dev
 

Last edited:

CRUSADER

Gold Member
May 25, 2007
40,820
45,226
ENGLAND
🥇 Banner finds
27
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
XP Deus II v0.6 with 11" Coil
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Thanks Crusader, So you think this mighthave been just a silver coin that was tested by a silversmith and then counterstamped? Can you recognize this coin??? I know it is not an 18th century American coin. That has already been established on Don Troini's s group Facebook site. But is it British , French / and what era????? I have so many questions about this little piece of silver and no one seems to know where I should go to get answers. Dev

I can tell its not a British coin, my best guess is Spanish which gives you another possibility. That it's an official Govt Countermark, hence the Crown at the top (Not British, so maybe Spanish, but might be any Country). If its a Countermark, the '3' could be the official denomination after testing & weighing, like a 3 Reale or other options.

I'm pretty sure its one of those 2 options, official countermark or unofficial trading Counterstamp. Problem is there are million of these, & unless an expert spots a known countermark your out of joy, because there are too many 'unknown' counterstamps.
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top