2014 ended on a high note with the recovery of a gorgeous cut silver

[Bill D. (VA)]

My good buddy and hunting partner Dan and I braved a little rain and snow yesterday to pound the fields one last time in 2014. We started out the day at one of our old sites, and were able to pick out a few leftovers we had missed before, including a nice watch winder I was able to snag. Then we decided to make a short trip to check out a new and promising area that was loaded with late 1600s land patents. As luck would have it we ran into one of the property owners while she had driven out to her mailbox, and we stopped to chat with her. With permission granted we made the long and muddy trek to the hidden field we knew was behind her house, and we felt this was a likely spot for an early house site especially since bordered a creek referenced in the patents. But it turned out to be a small turn-of-the-century site which was quite disappointing. We played around there a bit and recovered a few odds and ends, and my better finds were a large brass key and a cool keyhole cover, and both came out with a lovely green patina. With only about 90 min of daylight left we made a quick drive to the small pasture site we hit last Friday when Dan’s father was in town. Things were quite slow with only a button or buckle piece here and there. But as daylight was fading fast I got a very obvious hit that apparently had been missed before, and was very pleased to see a large cut piece from a 2 reale pistareen pop out with awesome detail. That was the first colonial silver coin I’ve dug with my new F75SE. And it was the 6[SUP]th[/SUP] colonial silver for the new fall season, the 20[SUP]th[/SUP] in 2014, and I also reached a mini-milestone with my 175[SUP]th[/SUP] overall. And it was my last keeper target I dug yesterday as well as for the year, so that was a great way to close out things. Dan and I have already started working hard to identify some new, early sites so hopefully we can start out 2015 on a strong note. Happy New Year to all!!

 

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[Vino]

Nice way to end the year Bill..
Always look forward to ur posts..
Happy New year
George

 

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[Bill D. (VA)]

Isn't it nice to have our new coin friend lol? Having the the most accomplished colonial coin expert on earth in your contact list does not suck. So happy you put me in touch with him. Great guy

I agree that it sure is nice to have John in our corner as a resource when we need some expertise. He says when I send him an email about a mystery coin it makes his day, and that certainly does not surprise me having seen first-hand his passion for colonial coins. I just hope we can recover many more to send to him in 2015 ....haha! Happy New Year my friend!

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Nice catch Joe. I've found many cut pieces with the "RUM" showing on one side, which is part of the word "HISPANIARUM". And I believe this is sometimes spelled as "RVM" although I don't recall if I've dug one of those. But having what appears to be an upside down "A" in place of the "V" could be significant. I sent pics of the coin to my colonial coin expert, and hopefully he can shed some light on this. Might not be a big deal, but you never know. Thanks again.

Thought I'd follow-up on this since I just received a reply back from my colonial coin expert. He made the following statement in regard to the upside down "A" in the legend:

"That's a nice high grade coin -- good find! I would think it wouldn't be that unusual, to use an A punch for a V, but I doubt anyone has ever studied it much or written about it. 18th century minters were very practical and were happy to make do with what they had. There are some similar things on US coins, like the 8s on the 1808 half cent are made from stacking the tiny 0 punches used in 1/200. I'm pretty sure there are some A/V uses too, but I can't think of any at the moment. Cool stuff!"

That was a nice educational comment I figured other colonial coin hunters might be interested in. Oh well, so much for my ultra rare mint error .... lol!

 

[Ahab8]

Thought I'd follow-up on this since I just received a reply back from my colonial coin expert. He made the following statement in regard to the upside down "A" in the legend:

"That's a nice high grade coin -- good find! I would think it wouldn't be that unusual, to use an A punch for a V, but I doubt anyone has ever studied it much or written about it. 18th century minters were very practical and were happy to make do with what they had. There are some similar things on US coins, like the 8s on the 1808 half cent are made from stacking the tiny 0 punches used in 1/200. I'm pretty sure there are some A/V uses too, but I can't think of any at the moment. Cool stuff!"

That was a nice educational comment I figured other colonial coin hunters might be interested in. Oh well, so much for my ultra rare mint error .... lol!

Always good to learn a little more about our finds from somebody with a great knowledge of such things. One of the nicest cut pieces I've seen.
Interestingly out of my Colonial silver finds none are cut. Not that i have a ton I just thought it odd

 

[Wildcat1750]

Awesome year-end finds, especially the Colonial Silver!

 

[matt092079]

Beautiful cut silver, Bill! Love the watch winder and the key as well!

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Fantastic cut silver!

 

[Silver Tree Chaser]

Bill - So you squeezed out one more colonial-silver before the end of the year. Why am I not surprised? Good for you and good hunting in 2015 (you'll need it to surpass that Lord Baltimore sixpence)!

 

[Iron Patch]

As nice as that coin is, it's only a little bit of icing for what was a pretty big Baltimorish 2014 cake!