1776 Carolus III 1/2 reale I believe, is it counterfeit

BobinSouthVA

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Sorry I didn't put a reference, it is just a bit smaller than an american dime.

Firstly do I have this I'D correct? and is it counterfeit?

the assyer mark seems a bit wrong (but I may be wrong on the ID), and the front seems to have some deterioration at the top. found a 1773 virginia half penny within a stones throw of this coin so the date seems good.

sounds like silver

it is very thin.

:icon_scratch:

thanks for any input.
 

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Looks reale to me. I cant remember that mint mark (ME overlapping). Yes its silver.
 

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The mint mark is LIMAE. (Lima, Peru)

Here a 2 Reale with the Limae mint mark. MJ assayer.
 

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BobinSouthVA said:
bigcypresshunter said:
Looks reale to me. I cant remember that mint mark (ME overlapping). Yes its silver.

yeah I know it's silver, just not sure if it's counterfeit or not.

here it is. 2 reale. Second one down.

http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinText/Sp-milled.3.html

I'm just suspicious of the "peeling" in the upper right.

Thanks for the help BigCy
We found the same pic. ;D


Do you think its silver plated? A period counterfeit would not be silver. It so worn and thin that I cant imagine it not being solid silver. You could have it tested. Nice find.
 

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bigcypresshunter said:
BobinSouthVA said:
bigcypresshunter said:
Looks reale to me. I cant remember that mint mark (ME overlapping). Yes its silver.

yeah I know it's silver, just not sure if it's counterfeit or not.

here it is. 2 reale. Second one down.

http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinText/Sp-milled.3.html

I'm just suspicious of the "peeling" in the upper right.

Thanks for the help BigCy
We found the same pic. ;D


Do you think its silver plated? It so worn and thin that I cant imagine it not being solid silver. You could have it tested.

yeah that's funny, maybe I'm getting better at this :tongue3:

I think mine is 1 reale since the 2 is not there
 

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bigcypresshunter said:
BobinSouthVA said:
bigcypresshunter said:
Looks reale to me. I cant remember that mint mark (ME overlapping). Yes its silver.

yeah I know it's silver, just not sure if it's counterfeit or not.

here it is. 2 reale. Second one down.

http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinText/Sp-milled.3.html

I'm just suspicious of the "peeling" in the upper right.

Thanks for the help BigCy
We found the same pic. ;D


Do you think its silver plated? A period counterfeit would not be silver. It so worn and thin that I cant imagine it not being solid silver. You could have it tested. Nice find.

I guess if it were plated it wouldn't make that sweet silver sound huh?

kinda smacked myself in the head after thinking about it, why would they counterfeit silver with silver :laughing7:
 

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Re: 1776 Carolus III 2 reale I believe, is it counterfeit

BobinSouthVA said:
I think mine is 1 reale since the 2 is not there
Its a half reale. A one reale is 1R. A two reale 2R or "2 bits." An eight reale is 8R.
Cut pieces of the 8 reale are called "pieces of eight."

spanish colonial america.webp

spanish pieceofeight reproduction.webp

Spanish Coin Denominations:

1/2 REAL or One-Half "Bit" is equivalent to American HALF-DIME or 1/16 PESO also called a PICAYUNE, DIAMETER: 16.4 mm - 17,7 mm

1 REAL or One "Bit" is equivalent to American DIME or 1/8 PESO, DIAMETER: 20.3 mm - 21.6 mm

2 REALES or Two "Bits" are equivalent to American QUARTER or 1/4 PESO, DIAMETER: 26.2 mm - 28.1 mm

4 REALES or Four "Bits" are equivalent to American HALF-DOLLAR or 1/2 PESO, DIAMETER: 34.9 mm

8 REALES - a Piece of 8, or Eight "Bits"(a "Cob"), coin is equivalent to American 1 DOLLAR or 1 PESO, DIAMETER: 38.8 mm - 39.9 mm

On Spanish Reales denominations are abbreviated "R" (on both 1/2 Real and 1 Real coins), "2 R", "4 R", and "8 R" respectively.

16 REALES = 1 ESCUDO
http://metaldetectingworld.com/coins_silver_reales.shtml
 

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Re: 1776 Carolus III 2 reale I believe, is it counterfeit

If the metal is peeling, that would be very odd for silver. If it's peeling, it's fake and silver plated in my opinion. If it's just patina in the upper right, probably real.
 

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Re: 1776 Carolus III 2 reale I believe, is it counterfeit

ipsilateral said:
If the metal is peeling, that would be very odd for silver. If it's peeling, it's fake and silver plated in my opinion. If it's just patina in the upper right, probably real.

I don't think it's patina, but it very well could be fertilizer decay
 

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Re: 1776 Carolus III 2 reale I believe, is it counterfeit

bigcypresshunter said:
BobinSouthVA said:
I think mine is 1 reale since the 2 is not there
Its a half reale. A one reale is 1R. A two reale 2R or "2 bits." An eight reale is 8R.
Cut pieces of the 8 reale are called "pieces of eight."
Spanish Coin Denominations:

1/2 REAL or One-Half "Bit" is equivalent to American HALF-DIME or 1/16 PESO also called a PICAYUNE, DIAMETER: 16.4 mm - 17,7 mm

1 REAL or One "Bit" is equivalent to American DIME or 1/8 PESO, DIAMETER: 20.3 mm - 21.6 mm

2 REALES or Two "Bits" are equivalent to American QUARTER or 1/4 PESO, DIAMETER: 26.2 mm - 28.1 mm

4 REALES or Four "Bits" are equivalent to American HALF-DOLLAR or 1/2 PESO, DIAMETER: 34.9 mm

8 REALES - a Piece of 8, or Eight "Bits"(a "Cob"), coin is equivalent to American 1 DOLLAR or 1 PESO, DIAMETER: 38.8 mm - 39.9 mm

On Spanish Reales denominations are abbreviated "R" (on both 1/2 Real and 1 Real coins), "2 R", "4 R", and "8 R" respectively.

16 REALES = 1 ESCUDO
http://metaldetectingworld.com/coins_silver_reales.shtml

Great info, thanks
 

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Re: 1776 Carolus III 2 reale I believe, is it counterfeit

bigcypresshunter said:
BobinSouthVA said:
I think mine is 1 reale since the 2 is not there
Its a half reale. A one reale is 1R. A two reale 2R or "2 bits." An eight reale is 8R.
Cut pieces of the 8 reale are called "pieces of eight."







Spanish Coin Denominations:

1/2 REAL or One-Half "Bit" is equivalent to American HALF-DIME or 1/16 PESO also called a PICAYUNE, DIAMETER: 16.4 mm - 17,7 mm

1 REAL or One "Bit" is equivalent to American DIME or 1/8 PESO, DIAMETER: 20.3 mm - 21.6 mm

2 REALES or Two "Bits" are equivalent to American QUARTER or 1/4 PESO, DIAMETER: 26.2 mm - 28.1 mm

4 REALES or Four "Bits" are equivalent to American HALF-DOLLAR or 1/2 PESO, DIAMETER: 34.9 mm

8 REALES - a Piece of 8, or Eight "Bits"(a "Cob"), coin is equivalent to American 1 DOLLAR or 1 PESO, DIAMETER: 38.8 mm - 39.9 mm

On Spanish Reales denominations are abbreviated "R" (on both 1/2 Real and 1 Real coins), "2 R", "4 R", and "8 R" respectively.

16 REALES = 1 ESCUDO
http://metaldetectingworld.com/coins_silver_reales.shtml


1 Real. It does say 1R.

The metal loss does look jagged, more consistent with plating than a silver coin. Do you have a scale? Curious if it's well under the usual weight.
 

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Re: 1776 Carolus III 2 reale I believe, is it counterfeit

BobinSouthVA said:
ipsilateral said:
If the metal is peeling, that would be very odd for silver. If it's peeling, it's fake and silver plated in my opinion. If it's just patina in the upper right, probably real.

I don't think it's patina, but it very well could be fertilizer decay


Can't be patina with part of the letters gone. I do agree it could be something very harsh that ate into the coin... sort of the same way salt water can eat them to a degree. Usually a dug plated coin would not come out that good.
 

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Re: 1776 Carolus III 2 reale I believe, is it counterfeit

Iron Patch said:
bigcypresshunter said:
BobinSouthVA said:
I think mine is 1 reale since the 2 is not there
Its a half reale. A one reale is 1R.


1 Real. It does say 1R.

The metal loss does look jagged, more consistent with plating than a silver coin. Do you have a scale? Curious if it's well under the usual weight.
Hello Iron Patch. Weighing it is a good idea but isnt it a 1/2 reale?

Here is another half reale (Mexico mint) to compare. I dont see the 1R.
 

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Re: 1776 Carolus III 2 reale I believe, is it counterfeit

bigcypresshunter said:
Iron Patch said:
bigcypresshunter said:
BobinSouthVA said:
I think mine is 1 reale since the 2 is not there
Its a half reale. A one reale is 1R.


1 Real. It does say 1R.

The metal loss does look jagged, more consistent with plating than a silver coin. Do you have a scale? Curious if it's well under the usual weight.
Hello Iron Patch. Weighing it is a good idea but isnt it a 1/2 reale?

Here is another half reale (Mexico mint) to compare. I dont see the 1R.


Look at the 9 O'clock position of his coin.
 

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Re: 1776 Carolus III 2 reale I believe, is it counterfeit

Iron Patch said:
bigcypresshunter said:
Iron Patch said:
bigcypresshunter said:
BobinSouthVA said:
I think mine is 1 reale since the 2 is not there
Its a half reale. A one reale is 1R.


1 Real. It does say 1R.

The metal loss does look jagged, more consistent with plating than a silver coin. Do you have a scale? Curious if it's well under the usual weight.
Hello Iron Patch. Weighing it is a good idea but isnt it a 1/2 reale?

Here is another half reale (Mexico mint) to compare. I dont see the 1R.


Look at the 9 O'clock position of his coin.
At the 9 o'clock postion of his coin is the overlapping ME mint mark for Limae (Lima, Peru). Below that I see a single R for 1/2 reale.

spanish half reale BobsouthVa1776-2[2].webp



Unless Im missing something, pictured below is a one reale (1R)also from Lima. http://imagehost.vendio.com/bin/vie...p=0&vimgs=nohole3.JPG,nohole4.JPG,nohole1.JPG
I still believe his coin is a half reale. Its also smaller than a US dime. Lets see what it weighs.

spanish one reale lima.webp
 

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There actually were platinum counterfeits because platinum wasnt worth what it is today. I dont see anything wrong with this coin however weighing it sounds like a great idea to solve counterfeit or not..
 

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But even your 1/2 real picture is not a match.

If it does say 1 R and is very small, it could be a mostly silver undersized counterfeit to pass as a 1 real. Not sure how it would have fooled people but they did some crazy things. I don't know Spanish enough to know the legends and understand what I should be seeing, or if anything is wrong. Should be easy enough to figure it out, and if you can't find a match, then it probably is a counterfeit.
 

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Lima half reale (R) different date http://www.blackmountaincoins.com/p/BMC/c-COBS-SHIPWRECK-COINS/1782_PER_11137.html

I gotta go do laundry. Im heading back out to my camper at work in the Everglades. I wish I was living there. Im driving back to town every weekend for now. Some day Ill spend my life hunting and fishing in the swamp. If I cant get around the zoning on my land Im thinking of just staying in the camper. This town (Miami) is getting way too crowded.
 

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I'll try to get it weighed tomorrow at work, however judging by how thin it is I'm not sure it will help.
 

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