1774 2 REALES

[odave]

I found this on the shore of a Lake in Northern California
It's a CAROLUS III DEI GRATIA 1774
It showed a VDI # 82 I'm thinking Quarter
I was very shocked to see a 2 Reales
Excited was an understatement

The question I have is what is the J R after the 2r on the back of the coin?
I identified the coin in 2008 North American coins & Prices Page 415
And are those lines in the coin for cutting it up?

Thanks Dave

 

[Bridge End Farm]

awesome find great piece of history

 

[vthepresident]

Doesn't it turn your stomach to imagine some goof digging a pocket knife into that beautiful hunk of silver? It's like kicking a puppy or open handed slapping somebody's grandmother.

Wicked awesome find man,
V

 

[RELICDUDE07]

Thats a nice piece of history to see the lines in it. 8- bits..Great find..They had it marked and ready to cut in the 1700s

 

[watercolor]

Thats a nice piece of history to see the lines in it. 8- bits..Great find..They had it marked and ready to cut in the 1700s

That's a wonderful piece

I'd rather find a coin like that with score-lines than one without. . . it definitely gives it character

HH!
watercolor

 

[tymcmurray]

THAT is a beautiful historical TREASURE!!!
Congratulations!!!

 

[crazyjarhead]

Very interesting.... A right next to that lake Nice pics as well. I can't help you on the info you are asking

 

[AMorgan]

The mint mark is San Luis Potosi (PTS in monogram). That coin came a long way from Bolivia.

The grafitti seems precisely placed as well.

Alan

 

[BuckleBoy]

Could've been someone passing the time, or perhaps turning the coin into a gaming piece...

By the time that coin was dropped out there--also judging from the wear--the old Reales might not have been legal tender anymore.

That's an excellent find--ESPECIALLY for your location!

 

[kippero]

wow is all i can say in the west we dont expect to find such things i always want to here the story of how that coin got there if they could just talk

 

[RELICDUDE07]

Looks like that coin is a rare find,i was looking around online a bit trying to find one just like it.. No luck,but i have found all the pieces/shapes marked on the coin above,between me and my hunting buddies ..And they would cut them in 8 pieces of exact weight . Just like your coin.. Thats how they made change in the old days..They cut all styles 8/4/2/1/reale ......... I love it........ BANNER

 

[toddy1384]

sweet find.....

 

[romeo-1]

Now that is a rare bird! The score marks are incredible! Undoubtedly done to prepare for cutting or "making change". Very cool!

 

[Carver]

Looks like that coin is a rare find,i was looking around online a bit trying to find one just like it.. No luck,but i have found all the pieces/shapes marked on the coin above,between me and my hunting buddies ..And they would cut them in 8 pieces of exact weight . Just like your coin.. Thats how they made change in the old days..They cut all styles 8/4/2/1/reale ......... I love it........ BANNER

Wow Dave!!!!!!!! Fantastic find for sure RELICDUDES info on it is awesome!!!! Seems you not only found a rare Spanish coin but one that's EXTREMELY RARE with the markings ready to be cut!!!!! Simply an awesome find I'd be hitting that spot with a vengence!!!!!!! This find definitely deserves the BANNER!!!! Big congrats!!!!!!

 

[Don in SJ]

WTG, nice to find a 2 Reale, that one was probably lost in the mid 1800s by the wear factor.

I do not believe those are markings for cutting, more like someone else said, nothing better to do with their time or since in that time frame Spanish Silver was not being accepted anymore as legal tender and perhaps it was marked as to not be accepted.
But if it were marked for cutting, the two different designs from Obverse and Reverse, just do not match, nor make sense for cutting
into "bits".

Also, since it is a 2 Reale and not an 8 Reale, the bits would not be bits at all, too small and underweight. The markings look like they were inscribed much later in that coin's in circulation life.

A lot of coins found have various unknown markings on them and when ask why to most professionals the usual response is, "something to do in idle time". It is not rare to see these various markings on coins at all, especially those that were still be handled in the early to mid 1800s.

On March 1st this year I found a typical very worn 1697 William III Halfpenny that is marked for cutting into quarters.

Don

 

[relichunters]

Really really nice find! congrats on it!!

 

[RELICDUDE07]

Dons very smart and maybe right ,but where im at we find the very small cut pieces all the time.I have found the 2 reales cut and 1 reales cut just like your coin , the outter pieces and the inside pieces aswell.. Thats how they made change for the large coins 8 and 4 reales..I have seen some just like your coin in a spanish coin book but it was many yrs. ago .. Does have alot of wear but so do many we find from 1760 and so on..I just found a slick 1776..Money was very hard to come by in those days,that was standard practice in my area for change ..We find tiny pieces like they may have even cut the 1/2reales As far as the two sides being different,it looks like a easy mistake for anyone..They marked it a little off center the first time and the weight would be uneven ,..........so flipped it over to the back and got it right the second time............... BANNER

 

[BuckleBoy]

At first, my thoughts were in line with Don in SJ's ideas about the coin...and I still don't understand how cutting a 2 Reales like that (as opposed to pie-shaped "wedges") would make change for another coin in circulation at the time... But then I looked back through my spanish silver, and found this coin--also a 2 Reales--which was cut to make change...and the cut line is not pie shaped, but matches the score marks on the coin above.





Here's the one from the original post, followed by the one I found with the lines superimposed:





And the back--with the lines for cutting into quarters added as well:





Now I'm getting pretty curious about this. The coin of mine was found in Virginia near a 1700's mill. I guess the million dollar questions are these: What was the value of these little "edge" pieces, and what was the value of the square-shaped part at the center after the four edges were cut off? I'm interested to see what others have found (has anyone unearthed an "edge" as opposed to a "wedge"? Relicdude, can you post some examples?


Regards,


Buckles

 

[RELICDUDE07]

Thats what it is buckle boy..I yrs.ago in a book saw a coin just like his.. I Guess some things were very cheap back then and they would sale for 1/4 a reale so they would cut that 1/2 into..Right on the spot.. I have some shapes but my friend has really had the best luck in finding them..He has some very small outter parts of 1 and 2 reales that show the coin at the top to a tee.I will try and see him and post soon. Good work on the picture above ,i think we can all understand..

 

[BuckleBoy]

Thats what it is buckle boy..I yrs.ago in a book saw a coin just like his.. I Guess some things were very cheap back then and they would sale for 1/2 a reale so they would cut that 1/2 into..Right on the spot.. I have some   shapes but my friend has really had the best luck in finding them..He has some very small outter parts  of 1 and 2 reales that show the coin at the top to a tee.I will try and see him and post soon. Good work on the picture above ,i think we can all understand..

So each piece is a 1/4 real?  Wouldn't the edge pieces be under-weight?

I look forward to seeing your friend's examples. 


-Buckleboy