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| Title |
SPANISH SILVER AND GOLD |
| Image |
 |
| Found in |
1994 |
| Found By |
Gerry Edwards |
| Value |
unpublished |
| Category |
Gold Coin |
| Heading |
One 1/2 real, one 2 reales, six 4 reales, two 8 reales |
| Description |
Gerry Edwards grew up hearing legends of La Panza silver and gold, and took them to heart. Today, his imagination is still fired by the secrets of those rugged mountains, and not long ago research led him to a site where he found a fistful of coins from the days of Spain's colonial empire.
"I was halfway up a deep canyon when I stopped to rest for a minute. Looking around, I noticed a hillside spot that looked promising, but my aching back told me that I'd better start by metal detecting the flat, sandy area below the hill and then work my way up from there.
"After covering a few hundred feet of ground, with nothing to show for my efforts except a few shell casings and bullet fragments, I got a good reading. Expecting more brass or lead, I was shocked when the edge of an old Spanish silver cob appeared. It was an early 18th century 1/2 real from the mint in Mexico City. I knew then that I was onto something!
"Soon I found another cob, a 2 reales from the 1500s. I also detected some small gray nuggets that later proved to be silver. Finally, I located a third coin, a c. 1695 real from the mint in Lima, Peru. Just as things were looking up, it was time to begin the long haul out.
A few months later I made it back to the site. Sweeping the flat area, I discovered several nuggets that I'd missed on the first trip, but more than an hour passed before I found my first silver cob. At last I was back on track!
"During the next few hours I uncovered nine more Spanish silver coins... one 1/2 real, one 2 reales, six 4 reales, and two 8 reales or 'pieces of eight'... bringing my total for the site to 13. Then, with time running short, I packed my gear and headed for home.
"A month later, still struggling with back pain, I slowly hiked back into the area. Unlimbering my detector, I worked a search pattern and found a few square nails. Then a better signal ran through my headphones, and I was rewarded with an 1802 silver 1/2 real. Not that I'm superstitious, but I was glad to finally break 13!
"With shadows falling, I knew I'd have to leave soon, but I couldn't resist giving one spot another going-over, just in case. The last signal was the best of the day: a small gold 1/2 escudo dated 1786. Pocketing it, somehow I felt convinced that there would be no more coins from this site."
But the story may not end there.
"Now I'm wondering about those nuggets," says Gerry. "Who knows? They could be just the clue I need to locate the Lost Priest mine. Like I always say, keep on researchin', searchin', and findin'!" |
| General Location Found |
hillside |
| Condition |
Very Good |
| Contact Email |
westeast@treasurenet.com |
| Keywords |
gold escudos reales |
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Entered s0-217-a-gte.br5.blv.nwnexus.net 2000/05/28 20:29
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