1783 Spanish 2 Reale @ Florida Hunt 7 in Melrose, FL

godisnum1

Silver Member
May 7, 2005
3,646
377
Saint Petersburg, FL
Detector(s) used
Nokta Legend Pro Pack, Nokta Legend WHP w/ LG24 coil, Nokta Pulse Dive Pinpointer, White's IDX Pro (x2), Vibraprobe 570
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I joined T-Net many years ago when I first got into Treasure Hunting & Metal Detecting... and though I've found some cool old relics in the past, I haven't found anything that I think would be good enough to post up here... until this past weekend.

I made a post a little while ago, asking if anyone was going to Florida Hunt 7, but sadly, received no responses.

We actually had several hundred people in attendence this year... along with reps from KellyCo, Fisher/Teknetics/Bounty Hunter, Tarsacci, Garrett, Minelab, Nokta Makro, Butch with American Digger Magazine, K.G. & Ringy from the TV show "Diggers", and even Michael Bennett (NuggetNoggin).

Our hunt took place on over 600 acres of land and was in support of Soldiers Freedom Outdoors, which is a non-profit organization and serves our active military and veterans with eco-therapy (nature therapy) through equine therapy with a large amount of horses and other animals, hunting, trail riding, fishing and kayaking & canoing on their lake. They invest so much into our military veterans and our group was able (through raffles, give-aways, donations, etc.) raise about $24,000 for the SFO organization to continue on their great work!

In the process, everyone in attendence gathered for a Meet & Greet at a local restaurant in Gainesville (to give them our business & support) on Friday evening, then took to metal detecting on the property of SFO on Saturday & Sunday.

This was by far the largest metal detecting gathering & hunt in our State of Florida, ever! We had attendees coming from many other states, the furthest being Washington State... and Nokta Makro actually flew one of their reps in from Turkey to be in attendence and rep their brand at FH7.

On Saturday, I got out there with a new friend & camping buddy and we got to detecting on the North end of the property. We ended up finding lots of shotgun shells (late 1800's to early 1900's), bullets, a few modern coins, and I found an old rusty iron meat hook looking piece, which was interesting. We hunted until about 3pm before heading back for our raffle & giveaways.

On Sunday, I decided to try a different spot. Within the first few minutes, I found some modern trash, but then found an older shotgun shell. Since I'm still learning my new Anfibio Multi detector, I dropped an old 1940's Mercury dime on the ground that I found at a park back home once, just to see what silver rang up as and sounded like on this machine. It was in the 80's and had a good, solid repeatable high tone. I kinda laughed and said, "Yeah, that shouldn't be too hard to notice." I made my way around some big oak trees and over to a spot that I thought might look promising. I started picking up a LOT of iron signals. At first, I pretty much just dismissed them and kept moving. But then I swung my coil from left to right and had a split second high tone sound and then immediately a low iron sound again. When I swept from right to left, all I heard was mainly a low iron tone and BARELY a blip of a high tone. But I remembered watching a guy on YouTube go over signals with my machine and the AT Pro and he explained that if you barely hear that high tone against a low tone, to pay close attention and work it from different angles. So I did just that. I circled around this spot, trying to get that high tone to show up again, until I got to JUST the right spot where I could get that solid high tone to repeat consistently without the iron signal interfering. I got excited because it was in the exact same range as my other silver coin and sounded exactly the same!

So I quickly started digging with my new mini-Lesche digger and got down to about 6 inches, but the signal was still in the hole. I dug again down to about 8 or 9 inches and swept it again and it was now not showing in the hole, but in the pile of dirt. I got down on the ground with my pinpointer and swept it to find out where it was at, then kinda pushed the dirt around once or twice until I saw a round, silver edge sitting in the dirt. My heart started racing, because I believed that I may have FINALLY found my first 1800's coin ever! Up until now, the oldest coin I've found was that little 1940's dime, so I've been hoping to cross over into the 1800's for a long time! I picked the coin up out of the dirt and saw a head looking back at me. But for a second, I was confused because I didn't see the words "Liberty", the date, or "United States" anywhere on it, nor did I recognize the person's head. I then saw words around the edges, but couldn't make it out either? I flipped it over, hoping the other side might tell me more... that's when I saw the VERY familiar Spanish Crest staring me in the face!!! I thought it was a joke or not real for a split second, but then looked at how deep my hole was and it started sinking in quick!

I tried not to scream or freak out, but I hollered at my buddy who was about 100 yards off to come over. He could tell I had something good, so he pulled out his phone and started recording as he got closer. You see, I just got a brand new GoPro Hero 9 (my first camera) and a ton of accessories last year and wore it on Saturday to record my finds... but since I didn't find much, I left it in the car on Sunday. But thankfully my buddy had my back.

As I put the coin in his hand, several other detecting guys came over (a couple saw me digging) to see what I found. One of them had K.G. on the phone and told him what I just dug up as well. None of us could believe it! They were asking me what kind of Reale it was, what the date was, but I couldn't answer any of it because I didn't know what to look for (and I was still in shock). I just got a book for Christmas that identifies Spanish Reales, but I didn't have it with me. One of the guys started looking at it and says that it's a 2 Reale. Another guy used his camera and took a photo of the bottom of the front, then blew it up on his phone and said that it's 1783, and that the 8 had a slight mis-strike at the upper, left.

I was (and still am) pretty much over the moon about this coin! I ended up digging a bunch of the low iron tones I had ignored, then realizing that it was ALL very old square nails. After digging close to a dozen, I switched back to searching for other good tones. And since I seemed to have another different signal from the same hole, I got my larger Lesche digger and took it down to 3 feet. The only thing I found was a couple tiny pieces of pottery, which seemed to be period as well... before I realized that my hole, and the smaller ones from the nails, were beginning to look like a large 6ft grave. That's not a good look, so I gave up on those, covered it all back up, then searched a 30ft radius in that area for the next 6 or 7 hours. I only got one other good signal (again, amidst iron signals) next to a tree, but could not get through the roots within an hour or two (finding more nails), so I finally gave up as the sun was starting to set and I had to drive 2-1/2 hours back home.

Overall, this was the best and most memorable trip of my life! And by far, the best Florida Hunt I've been to (out of 4)! I can't wait to see what lies ahead for Florida Hunt 8 next year!!! [emoji1431]

Bran <><
 

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Yell-X

Jr. Member
Jun 27, 2018
21
31
St. Petersburg
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Way Cool! Awesome find and great post! Seeing someone local making a find like that is inspiring.

I saw your January post about the Florida Hunt 7. Currently I am on the injured reserve list due to a biking accident in November, so I did not reply. I very much wanted to go but my body is still healing. Last week I did a couple of quick hunts after work, so I am getting there….Slowly.
 

Blak bart

Gold Member
Jun 6, 2016
18,549
97,694
FL keys
🥇 Banner finds
5
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Mine lab primary fisher secondary
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Thats a great story man...congrats on an awsome spanish coin !! Gotta luv it !! Happy hunting !!
 

pepperj

Gold Member
Feb 3, 2009
37,032
137,023
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Deus, Deus 2, Minelab 3030, E-Trac,
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
Congrats on the beauty, certainly a memory to be had right there.
 

OP
OP
godisnum1

godisnum1

Silver Member
May 7, 2005
3,646
377
Saint Petersburg, FL
Detector(s) used
Nokta Legend Pro Pack, Nokta Legend WHP w/ LG24 coil, Nokta Pulse Dive Pinpointer, White's IDX Pro (x2), Vibraprobe 570
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Way Cool! Awesome find and great post! Seeing someone local making a find like that is inspiring.

I saw your January post about the Florida Hunt 7. Currently I am on the injured reserve list due to a biking accident in November, so I did not reply. I very much wanted to go but my body is still healing. Last week I did a couple of quick hunts after work, so I am getting there….Slowly.
Thank you! Oh gosh, I'm really sorry to hear that!!! [emoji17] The road to recovery is never an easy one... or quick. Well I hope you get all healed up and are able to attend Florida Hunt 8 next year! I haven't met many T-Net members at these Florida Hunts over the years... at least not like it used to be at the old Chisholm Trail Hunts we used to have out in Caldwell, Kansas. That was mostly T-Net friends who showed up to those and were some great, memorable hunts! But these Florida Hunts are getting better (and bigger) year after year, so I'm looking forward to seeing what's to come next... [emoji1431]

Bran <><
 

Yell-X

Jr. Member
Jun 27, 2018
21
31
St. Petersburg
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I am mostly ok now but still need to listen to my body and not push it too hard. My accident was not life threating. My family and I were doing some camping, hiking and mountain biking in Virginia. On one of the bike trails I did the Man versus tree challenge and the tree soundly won.

Next year I will do my best the make the Florida Hunt. I saw you were camping when you went. Did you camp on the property that you were hunting?
 

villagenut

Gold Member
Oct 18, 2014
5,748
10,224
florida
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
sweet ole silver, congrats on finding it....in good old Florida at that. Yahooo Florida
 

Luciano321

Jr. Member
Feb 26, 2021
26
32
Panama, Central America
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Golden Sabre
Tesoro Sand Shark.......(Out of Order)
Minelab Soveregn GT...(Out of Order too.)
Gemini II (Long ago)
Fisher 1280X (Long ago).
T. Sensor....My first device.
I tried dowsing.
I tri
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Great coin----Great find....:occasion14:
 

OP
OP
godisnum1

godisnum1

Silver Member
May 7, 2005
3,646
377
Saint Petersburg, FL
Detector(s) used
Nokta Legend Pro Pack, Nokta Legend WHP w/ LG24 coil, Nokta Pulse Dive Pinpointer, White's IDX Pro (x2), Vibraprobe 570
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Thanks all for the encouraging congrats! As a Florida Native, I do love my State and its rich history! [emoji1430]

Bran <><
 

Last edited:
OP
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godisnum1

godisnum1

Silver Member
May 7, 2005
3,646
377
Saint Petersburg, FL
Detector(s) used
Nokta Legend Pro Pack, Nokta Legend WHP w/ LG24 coil, Nokta Pulse Dive Pinpointer, White's IDX Pro (x2), Vibraprobe 570
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I am mostly ok now but still need to listen to my body and not push it too hard. My accident was not life threating. My family and I were doing some camping, hiking and mountain biking in Virginia. On one of the bike trails I did the Man versus tree challenge and the tree soundly won.

Next year I will do my best the make the Florida Hunt. I saw you were camping when you went. Did you camp on the property that you were hunting?
Oh wow! That's a terrible accident?! I'm glad that it wasn't life threatening, though it'll still take a while to heal.

And no, we didn't camp on the property. We camped at the State Park campground about 15 min's down the road.

Bran <><
 

EagleEye1

Banned
Apr 2, 2020
171
246
Primary Interest:
Other
Awesome find!! Your story now has me really guessing on an area I recently did that was basically dead minus a few modern or of non-interest to the area old farm like items, and then BAM a bunch of Iron, but I just ignored it. I was basically just testing out my detector while searching through the grounds of an area to get a feel for the layout and where something may have been and wasn't doing any serious metal detecting that day and it was getting late at that point anyway.

Your story really has me questioning what may be in that spot! You're right, just keep going in different directions etc over an iron signal to get that right pitch/vdi. Interesting indeed.

Again, great work!
 

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ArfieBoy

Silver Member
Aug 11, 2011
3,342
5,530
N.E. Oregon
Detector(s) used
Compass X-70, Compass X-80, Compass X-90, Compass Judge 2, Garrett AT Pro
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Congratulations! What a magnificent coin! Great story along with it. Thanks for posting.
 

OP
OP
godisnum1

godisnum1

Silver Member
May 7, 2005
3,646
377
Saint Petersburg, FL
Detector(s) used
Nokta Legend Pro Pack, Nokta Legend WHP w/ LG24 coil, Nokta Pulse Dive Pinpointer, White's IDX Pro (x2), Vibraprobe 570
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Awesome find!! Your story now has me really guessing on an area I recently did that was basically dead minus a few modern or of non-interest to the area old farm like items, and then BAM a bunch of Iron, but I just ignored it. I was basically just testing out my detector while searching through the grounds of an area to get a feel for the layout and where something may have been and wasn't doing any serious metal detecting that day and it was getting late at that point anyway.

Your story really has me questioning what may be in that spot! You're right, just keep going in different directions etc over an iron signal to get that right pitch/vdi. Interesting indeed.

Again, great work!
Yeah, I was only ignoring those iron signals because I knew it was iron, but I didn't realize the age of the site. But next time, when I'm getting lots of iron signals like that, I need to just dig a few to see what's around that site. If it's garbage iron, then I'll know. But if it shows to be old iron or square nails... well, then that'll tell me a ton about where I'm at. You should most definitely get back to that site and give it a check...

Bran <><
 

eyemustdigtreasure

Silver Member
Mar 2, 2013
3,596
5,576
California
Detector(s) used
Fisher Gold Bug Pro
Tesoro Cibola
Nokta Pointer; Phillips SHS5200 phones
Nokta Macro SIMPLEX +
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Awesome stuff!
Super story and, that Spanish Silver is outstanding...! :icon_thumright:
You can be Proud...!
 

Calabash Digger

Gold Member
Apr 18, 2016
5,300
11,756
🥇 Banner finds
2
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS II ,XP DEUS, EQUINOX 800, EXCALIBUR II,
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Very nice ! congrats!
 

Jon Phillips

Hero Member
Mar 10, 2009
535
325
Riverview Florida
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
F-75, MXT, 6000di sl
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Congrats on a nice bucket-list find!

I'm no coin expert, but have a few Reales and cobs...and maybe it's the pics, but it looks like it might be 50 cent piece sized as opposed to quarter sized...is it confirmed to be a 2 reale and not a 4?

Thanks for posting...and for posting in the Florida section.
 

OP
OP
godisnum1

godisnum1

Silver Member
May 7, 2005
3,646
377
Saint Petersburg, FL
Detector(s) used
Nokta Legend Pro Pack, Nokta Legend WHP w/ LG24 coil, Nokta Pulse Dive Pinpointer, White's IDX Pro (x2), Vibraprobe 570
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Very nice ! congrats!
I couldn't remember your YouTube name when I wrote this up, but I'm glad I remembered and was able to find you on here! Thanks again for your sound wisdom!

Bran <><
 

OP
OP
godisnum1

godisnum1

Silver Member
May 7, 2005
3,646
377
Saint Petersburg, FL
Detector(s) used
Nokta Legend Pro Pack, Nokta Legend WHP w/ LG24 coil, Nokta Pulse Dive Pinpointer, White's IDX Pro (x2), Vibraprobe 570
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Congrats on a nice bucket-list find!

I'm no coin expert, but have a few Reales and cobs...and maybe it's the pics, but it looks like it might be 50 cent piece sized as opposed to quarter sized...is it confirmed to be a 2 reale and not a 4?

Thanks for posting...and for posting in the Florida section.
Thanks so much! Yes, one of the Groene Boys that were detecting near me when I found it took a close up photo and zoomed in to show me the date and the 2 R mark on the back that shows that it's a 2 Reale. I'm not an expert at them either. Here's the photos he took of my coin and sent to me yesterday.

Bran <>< received_2926877840970480.jpg received_2853731411508556.jpg
 

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