Spanish half real cob

toasted

Silver Member
Jun 1, 2015
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Maryland
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Minelab Equinox 600 XP Deus
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Metal Detecting
Just dug this sweet little holed cob from my pounded Pomander site:headbang:It wasnt too far from where I recovered another cob back in 2015. This one was less than 10 yards from where I always park my truck. It gave no number and sounded just like a deep piece of tiny can slaw but rings up like a zinc out of the ground. Never hunted out is so true. Any help on id appreciated
 

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Upvote 27
Congrats Toasty!

That's a super sweet little 300+ year old silver coin. All hand made too. Just imagine the trip that coin took to find YOU.

Best of luck to you sir.
 

Huge congrats! Great testament how these early sites will keep giving.
 

Damn that's a killer piece. I find cobs to be so cool. I have one silver one and one copper one. But mine is thin and not too pretty. The best part of mine is that it came with a big brother that was #1 on my bucket list. Congrats buddy. That's a really great early site. Is that full of iron and trash or fairly quiet? Might be a good GPX site
 

You have just explained why you should never dig numbers. I've had some great finds on the Deus with no numbers or --, even a monster hammered silver deep on just a 03!
CONGRATS
Looks in the 1600s to me!
 

Damn that's a killer piece. I find cobs to be so cool. I have one silver one and one copper one. But mine is thin and not too pretty. The best part of mine is that it came with a big brother that was #1 on my bucket list. Congrats buddy. That's a really great early site. Is that full of iron and trash or fairly quiet? Might be a good GPX site
Thanks. This site has pockets of dense iron and HAD lots of trash but I have dug most of it. lol. It has had continuous activity on it pretty much since colonial times. Many targets are very deep or mixed with iron so Im sure there is stuff still there. Clearly, I should not be giving up on it anytime soon.
 

WOW! Nice Cob...bucketlister for sure. Congrats
 

Nice cob toasted, dug the same one a few years back...almost threw mine away thinking it was an old dog tag. Rang in the same- congrats!

Thanks. Your 1607 cob must have started out life as a 1 real or higher because 1/2 real cobs were not made until the reign of Philip IV. Would love to see a pic of your cobs by the way or anybody's for that matter
 

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Thanks. Your 1607 cob must have started out life as a 1 real or higher because 1/2 real cobs were not made until the reign of Philip IV. Would love to see a pic of your cobs by the way or anybody's for that matter

Here's one of my half reales of the same denomination and type. ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1497579749.916094.jpgImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1497579773.282460.jpg
 

Congrats on the cob! These coins are in a class of their own - lots of history. This period illustration puts it all in perspective - mining for silver that would be turned into cobs and ingots in Potosi, not Mexico, but the image well represents the period as a whole. Awesome find!

potosi_mines.jpg
 

Congrats on the cob! These coins are in a class of their own - lots of history. This period illustration puts it all in perspective - mining for silver that would be turned into cobs and ingots in Potosi, not Mexico, but the image well represents the period as a whole. Awesome find!

View attachment 1462663

Thanks. I think this is my new favorite coin especially it being holed. So much history it could tell. Ive now found 4 early Spanish silvers but have yet to recover a milled bust real. If this keeps up maybe a tree coin will be in my future. Oh and those gold cufflinks are one of the coolest things I have ever seen on here.
 

This looks like a more recent loss, the hole looks drilled so it was probably worn as a pendant, perhaps nothing to do with the date of the site. but still a nice find.

SS
 

This looks like a more recent loss, the hole looks drilled so it was probably worn as a pendant, perhaps nothing to do with the date of the site. but still a nice find.

SS
:thumb_down: You can tell all that from a hole. Said person also recently dropped this "pendant" within feet of tombacs, musketballs, a silver Pomander, British coppers and another cob?:icon_scratch: I think it is way more likely to have been dropped in the 18th century. Besides, a thin worn lightweight half real would be a lousy "pendant"
 

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This looks like a more recent loss, the hole looks drilled so it was probably worn as a pendant, perhaps nothing to do with the date of the site. but still a nice find.

SS

I believe the manner of making a hole, whether punched or drilled, is of little consequence. Why would a drilled hole be more likely modern? Wampum from the native tribes dating back to the 17th century was all drilled. I also thought that old holed coins were more likely re-purposed to be worn in more modern times for jewelry and such, but I eventually recovered this cut Spanish milled silver that was clearly holed (possibly by drilling) at a colonial site. Cutting of coins for change was obviously a colonial-period practice, and clearly this coin was holed before it was cut.

CUT SPANISH SILVER - PREVIOUSLY HOLED.JPG

On the reasons for holed coins, I’ve read some evidence for silver’s antimicrobial properties for keeping water and milk from turning foul. Perhaps the coin was tied with string to allow a coin to be recovered without putting hands into a drinking mug?
 

Congrats on an Awesome old coin!!
 

Holy smokes! I can't imagine finding something like that! Congrats. -Lisa & John
 

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