Found in mid Tn. A few days ago

[Digginitdaily]

So a while back I dug up a 1/4 reale. A few days ago I managed to dig up another object of greater size and weight. A few feet away I dug up another object that looked almost like a metal stamp. The next day I began cleaning the pieces and realized the stamp contained designs of waves and numbers. The other object in question has several markings I can clearly see. A (P) on the left an (8)in the middle of the top along with what appears to be pillars and smaller numbers. I weighed it and it was 30.2 grams. From research I found that the typical 8 reals cob is 27. Ish grams. But something looked different about this cob. So I kept reading and came across the Potosi hearts. Upon learning how they were made I realized that it may be overweight to accommodate the shaping of the intended design while still being able to keep the appropriate 8 reale weight. Attached is a picture of the stamp and cob after digging them up. As well as a few pics of the cob after washing lightly. I'm fairly new to the spanish colonial coinage so I could very well be wrong about the heart shaped object in question. But I can say for certain it's silver and the markings all point to Potosi mintage.

 

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[Hbot37]

I’m not seeing any letters, numbers, pillars, or intentional design. Can you point them out. The picture doesn’t look silver either. Based on looks alone, looks like a blob of lead or aluminum but I don’t know how heavy it is.

 

[xr7ator]

I'm going with campfire nugget as well. How do you know for certain that it is silver? Had it tested, or?

 

[Digginitdaily]

It's definitely silver. It may have other metals mixed with it. I'm not sure how they mixed their metals . As far as pictures go I guess I'm gonna have to get a better picture taking device

 

[robertk]

It's definitely silver.

OK, but how do you know this?

I agree with the others, I don't see any intentional marks or designs. It looks like what I'd call "camp lead".

As far as pictures go I guess I'm gonna have to get a better picture taking device

The pictures are fine, they're large enough and in focus, I just don't see anything.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Looks more like melted lead, way too thick to be cob, and doesn't look like silver at all, maybe melted solder. spanish cobs were 90% silver. Does it react to a magnet?

 

[Digginitdaily]

Looks more like melted lead, way too thick to be cob, and doesn't look like silver at all, maybe melted solder. spanish cobs were 90% silver. Does it react to a magnet?

Non magnetic.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Non magnetic.

Ok, doesn't have to attach, is there any attraction at all?

Both lead and solder are not affected by magnet.

 

[villagenut]

Camp lead....do a scratch test on an edge