Routine Penny Signal Bangs 300 year old coin off Bucket List!!

[Chestdiesel]

Days are unfortunately getting shorter. Showed up at a new spot today at 4 pm. This place looks like something out of a movie. Old trees etc. Anyways, second diggable signal of the day rang in at a steady 80 on the At Pro. I'm thinking its a copper penny all day, yet I notice it's at 6-8"? That coupled with the fact it's a new spot had me a little intrigued. I haven't been detecting very long, less than 2 years, but I've done pretty well. Been seriously dying to get my hands on some Colonial Silver. Never would have thought that it would have rang in the same as a copper penny, but stranger things have happened. Anyways, I dig the hole and out pops a 1721 Spanish 2 Reale! I was literally shaking, as lame as that may sound to some of you lol. What a beauty!! Unbelievable shape!! I'll let the pictures tell the rest. Thanks for looking, happy hunting, and don't ever be above digging that deep clad penny signal. Cheers.

 

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[Vino]

Thats a incredible find..
Big congrats.
Can we see the other side?
Are positive its a 2reale?
Is it bigger then a quarter?

 

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[Terry Soloman]

Congratulations!!!!

 

[screwynewy]

Awesome find. A surprise like that will keep you digging all signals for a long time. Sounds like you have a good spot and should spend a lot more time there.

 

[oxbowbarefoot]

Beautiful Spanish silver. 2 Reales are sweet to dig!

 

[hogge]

Well, I'm sticking my kneck out here a little but......If it only rang up at 80' it's highly likely you have a contemporary counterfeit. NOW......THAT WOULD BE A GOOD THING! Contrary to what the "masses" on this site may say. My brother in law found a cft. 8 reale a couple years ago that we sold to a collector for $225. If it was NOT cft. the same coin would have sold for less than 1/2 of that. There are people that specifically collect the 2 real cft. Would like to see closeups of both sides. Looks as though it's very well made also. If it rang up at 80 instead of 90+, it's probably "alloyed" with some kind of "tinny" or copper type metal. Some good Counterfeiters were very sharp. For example......They would melt down 10 coins worth of silver and "alloy" that metal, into like 14-15 coins, making a tidy profit. Off the top of my head I cannot think of some of the metals they used, but I think Arsenic was used also. Would have to look it up.

 

[hogge]

The really smooth.....shiny "blueish" sheen is the tell tail sign. If you have a silver quarter, drop that on a hard surface. Then drop the 2 real. You'll hear the difference in tone. Or just weigh it and compare to Regal examples. It's not hard to figure out.

 

[Captain Caveman]

Congratz! And what a beauty!

 

[RJ55]

Nice save!

 

[NEPADIGGER7]

great find man! just goes to show dig every good repeatable signal!

 

[streakert]

looks like a 2 Reales Spain Minted in Madrid king Phillip v the weight should be 6.7700g 0.0903 silver
STANDARD CATALOG OF WORLD COINS

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Thats a good looking pistareen! I bet you were floating on air when that came out of the dirt

If you want to learn a bit about pistareens and the American colonies, check out this PDF Pistareen info I dug a cut 2 real pistareen this spring and the information in that document was very interesting to me.

Also, my cut one had a ID of a brass style flat button. Those ID's have a lot to do with the size, shape, metal composition, ground mineralization, and depth. So if its an old site.... if it beeps... dig it! Don't trust what the IDs are telling you.

 

[Rustic]

Beautiful find! Congratulations. I know we diggers in western mass have some of the best hunting areas around and it's finds like yours that make me believe it even more. I hope to find a coin like that some day, Great coin.

 

[Carolina Tom]

CJON455 dug one like that... I believe it was like that one.

Congrats on the colonial silver!

 

[46Wheat]

Amazing coin ..... congrats

 

[Chestdiesel]

Hey Vino, I did post the other side, can you not see it?? Not positive it's a 2 Reale, but pretty sure? It's got the typical "II" right above the assayer's initial right of the shield? It's about the same size as a quarter...

 

[Chestdiesel]

Yeah, I'll definitely have to weigh it Hogge. The bluish sheen kinda washed off with just water, it looks more like blackish, tarnished silver now. From what I've read, the silver content on these is a little lower, and only just north of .8, that was why I thought it rang a little low. But 80 isn't uncommon for silver with the At Pro, I've dug barber dimes and seated dimes that low before too. But never anything this big, size wise. Interesting. I'll have to look into it more, but if I had to guess, I'd say this is the real McCoy, can't imagine other alloys holding up as good as silver in the ground for 300 years.

 

[Chestdiesel]

Awesome article Outdoor Adv!! Thanks for posting. There was one really good nugget I took away from the article, and that's how thin these things are. When I first saw the rim in the hole, I was thinking some worn down copper possibly, I couldn't believe how much detail there was on such a thin coin. Thought it was gonna be rubbed down to nothing. Anyways, thanks again, and happy hunting.

 

[IAMZIM]

Days are unfortunately getting shorter. Showed up at a new spot today at 4 pm. This place looks like something out of a movie. Old trees etc. Anyways, second diggable signal of the day rang in at a steady 80 on the At Pro. I'm thinking its a copper penny all day, yet I notice it's at 6-8"? That coupled with the fact it's a new spot had me a little intrigued. I haven't been detecting very long, less than 2 years, but I've done pretty well. Been seriously dying to get my hands on some Colonial Silver. Never would have thought that it would have rang in the same as a copper penny, but stranger things have happened. Anyways, I dig the hole and out pops a 1721 Spanish 2 Reale! I was literally shaking, as lame as that may sound to some of you lol. What a beauty!! Unbelievable shape!! I'll let the pictures tell the rest. Thanks for looking, happy hunting, and don't ever be above digging that deep clad penny signal. Cheers.
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I don't see how you can think shaking from a find like that can be lame! I would be ECSTATIC if I found ANYTHING from the 1700s!!! Awesome find buddy!

 

[FreeBirdTim]

I'd say this is the real McCoy, can't imagine other alloys holding up as good as silver in the ground for 300 years

That would be my conclusion as well. Ignore the self-proclaimed coin "expert" here and enjoy your find.

 

[Iron Patch]

I'm certainly a fan of those, and crossed mine off the list, but just the one. (So I am due)

Even places of equal age they seemed to circulate more in some places than others so you may dig your 2nd before I get mine.