1788 Spanish Silver Reale Found in Ohio!

[OhioCoinHunter]

Today I hunted a park and found my best find to date. The hunt began slowly with a silver thimble find and a couple of wheats. Then I got a high toned signal at about 5 inches deep. I dug the target and saw what I initially thought was a smooth punch out disc from an electrical junction box. I rubbed the dirt off and then noticed some slight features. After carefully washing the rest of the dirt off with water from a bottle I carry with me, I saw the date and realized I found a silver coin from 1788! Wow! What a big surprise! It had a name on it - Carolus III. When I got home I typed that name along with "silver" and "coin" in the Yahoo search engine box and hit enter. I then learned I had discovered Spanish Silver! I think it's a 1 or 4 reale coin. Not sure. But what an amazing find! Someone dropped that coin in the 1700's before Ohio was a state...and I found it today. I'm thrilled. Dan

My finds from the hunt:

Silver thimble that says, "The Oakland Theatre":

Spanish Silver Reale:

Here's a video of the hunt for anyone interested:

 

[MaineRelic]

Re: Spanish Silver Found in Ohio!

Congrads on the spanish silver a remarkable find ! I am looking for my 1st !!1 MaineRelic.

 

[t-bucket]

Re: Spanish Silver Found in Ohio!

Wow that awesome !!!! congrats on the spanish silver I found one last year and relived your joy from the video

 

[mainer]

Re: Spanish Silver Found in Ohio!

Congrats on the reale. If there's one there might be another there. Good luck.

 

[Colonial Copper Zeus]

Re: Spanish Silver Found in Ohio!

Congratulations on your Ohio found Spanish silver. That's all i'm going to say unless I want to be jumped on by a few sensitive west of me treasure hunters.
Chris

 

[mlayers]

Re: Spanish Silver Found in Ohio!

You made some nice finds ohiocoinhunter. What part of Ohio are you in I am in the Northwest Williams county. I am always looking to get together with other detectors to do some hunting. Give me a shout if you would like to get together.....Matt

 

[cntrydncr1]

Re: Spanish Silver Found in Ohio!

awesome!

 

[testing123]

Re: Spanish Silver Found in Ohio!

Spectacular find! I couldn't imagine how that would get the blood pumping, and ever better you got it on video!

From what I understand, using Spanish coins and other foreign coins was perfectly acceptable up until 1857. During that year, there was a law passed requiring Spanish coins to be removed from circulation. So it is possible your coin was dropped in the 1850s, which could explain its worn condition as well. Just something to ponder.

I have never found one and offer you a major congratulations!

 

[olekyground]

Re: Spanish Silver Found in Ohio!

excellent find!! CONGRATS!!!

 

[OhioCoinHunter]

Re: Spanish Silver Found in Ohio!

You found a good coin !!
The "IJ" is the mark of joint assayers who worked at the mint in Lima Peru.
The demonination of the coin is 1R if 20mm, 2R if 28mm and 4R if 34 mm.
The coin contains .9027 fine silver
Don.......

It's 21 mm and it does say "1R" on the back. I wasn't sure initially because the "1" is so wide on the coin I thought it might be a "4." But it's definitely a 1 reale silver coin. A Big Thanks for posting that information, Don. It helped me figure out what I have.

 

[Mackaydon]

Re: Spanish Silver Found in Ohio!

Ohio:
Glad I could help.
Actually, when I first looked at your coin I thought the letters to the right of the date began with "VIL" and I thought that was something I'd not seen before. Then (admittedly) a day later I realized I was actually reading the end of "Gratia" upside down.
I blame it on the Merlot.
Don.....

 

[desert dog]

WELL DONE COOL FIND

 

[Recovering Relics]

I saw the video on YouTube yesterday. Again, congrats on the amazing find!

 

[Brian(upstateNY-Central Fla.)]

thats a great find and congrats too ya

 

[minton7]

congrats! There are more of those found in ohio than you would think.... I found an 1810 half reale a few yrs back.. I know of 3 others beside yours found within the past few yrs.... kool digs indeed!

 

[kimsdad]

That's amazing!!! What a find!

Great video, too!

 

[Bell-Two]

Great find Dan, and as usual your videos are superb. Keep up the good work and it was fun chatting with you today.

 

[jgas]

Now thats what I am talking about. That is incredible Major congrats. We all wish to find silver like that some day. Great catch and equally great video. One of the best I have seen. jgas

 

[OhioCoinHunter]

Great find Dan, and as usual your videos are superb. Keep up the good work and it was fun chatting with you today.

Bell-Two, it was great talking to you too. Thanks for the good words.

 

[OhioCoinHunter]

congrats! There are more of those found in ohio than you would think.... I found an 1810 half reale a few yrs back.. I know of 3 others beside yours found within the past few yrs.... kool digs indeed!

Thanks, Minton7. Yeah, I've heard of them being found in our neck of the woods. Each time I read that someone found one, I was amazed. However I never expected to find one myself. Congrats on the one you found! Let's hope we both find more.

 

[Kirk PA]

If you are finding these in parks, I wonder how many are left on vanished sites in fields or woods? You proved Ohio has the goods!

Kirk