I need some help identifying this please

[captain_mike]

I found this coin detecting today. It appears to be silver and is bendable. It looks like silver, and appears to have a date o.k. It (1809). A few guys have told me it says "copy"on it, but under a magnifier it it's clearly an 8, not a P on the one side. The scale says it weighs 13.1 grams. I have no experience with this, but com what I've read, it could be a 4 reale? Thanks in advance for your help.

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[captain_mike]

So maybe it's 1807 or 1809. I don't know if that's where a date would be. It's clearly an 8. It was found in an old section of California in the gold country.

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[captain_mike]

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[Mackaydon]

Nothing would normally appear in the exact area where COPY or CO8Y now appeas.
Its a token (replica-copy) of (by weight, anyway) a 4R coin.
Don.....

 

[captain_mike]

Thanks, I was afraid of that. I'll have to get it checked for silver content

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[Diver_Down]

Capt., don't bother checking for silver content. At most, it will be plated pot metal. The spelling of "Copy" is the most accurate detail about this "piece". To help you in your quest for knowledge, google about colonial cob coinage era. Then compare that knowledge with what you believe is an 1807 or 1809. Then ask yourself, how this piece was created in the early 19th century with a design that mimics that which was prevalent in the early 17th century. Then if you still think there is a chance, surely in your quick lesson on cob coinage you would have learned that the date for a legitimate piece would be at 10 o'clock (if your first photo is properly orientated 180 degrees) or at 4 o'clock in your 1st photo that is upside down.

 

[captain_mike]

Thanks for the lesson. I guess this is a live and learn deal

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[Diver_Down]

Thanks for the lesson. I guess this is a live and learn deal

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I just reread my post, and I apologize if it came off as being well sort of an a$$. We have all been there when we have dug a piece and want it so badly to be real. The brain is powerful tool and in some cases it will interpret what we want to see and can be rather convinced of the conclusions. This piece is cool to toss aside as a conversation piece and perhaps spark an interest in learning about cob coinage.

Unfortunately, this piece is readily available and found in the oddest places. I can go down to St. George Street in St. Augustine and buy hundreds of this piece as the shopkeepers love to offer this "pirate treasure" to tourists and kids. At least, this was an easy answer. Some contemporary counterfeits can really be deceiving.

 

[captain_mike]

Well you were right. Took it to a local White's dealer who owns a coin and gold shop. He put it on his spectrum analyzer and it's lead, copper, antimony and gallium. The lead made it pliable, and the copper with other metals made it ring up as silver or gold. One very 'good lesson for experience

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