Lost Spanish silver. (Yea I know, the stuff on our beaches all was lost! (; )

PetesPockets55

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Apr 18, 2013
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Let me start out by saying I never thought I'd get to share this story.

It starts the week before hurricane Dorian in August of 2019. I posted about finding a San Miguel horse buckle in this thread. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/today-s-finds/614473-san-miguel-style-brass-buckle-ca-1700-1750-a.html
(All my images were lost right after Dorian when my phone crashed. I had to do a complete reboot, including re-loading apps, and all images taken in the week leading up to Dorian's landfall here were gone from my phone.:BangHead::BangHead:)

This thread is about that sliver of time between finding that buckle and losing my images during Dorian.

After finding the buckle and posting it here I went back two days later to check on the land clearing (they had given me permission originally) since that was what enabled me to find the buckle. I started in the same vicinity where I found the buckle and didn't have any hits. As I looked around I noticed that the dozer had pushed the dirt towards a certain direction. As I followed the dozer trail I had a hit in the nickel range about 6" down in the sand. Whatever it was kept slipping through my fingers time and again. Finally, after about 5 minutes, I see this.
FirstPiece-HalfReale-InSituArrows.jpg
I start grinning out of happiness and laughing at myself for taking so long to locate it in the sand. Spanish silver!! Finally!!In. My. Hand. (Mind you I'd only been detecting for about 16 months at that point. But hey, Americans are an impatient lot and the Kings silver is suppose to litter the beaches here. :laughing7:)

Well, I checked the hole and got another hit. Same numbers and it only took about three handfuls to locate this one. All told I found four half-reales and a single 1-reale in about 15 minutes of digging with in a 2'x2' area. I think they had been in the vicinity of the buckle but got moved away by the dozer.

GroupImage-OnGlove-1.JPG GroupImage-OnGlove-2Closeup-CroppedToSilverPcs.jpg

There are some really nice details on some of them for being so small, but no date and I can't recall if I found the assayers mark.

GroupImage-OnGlove-5CloseupVNice.JPG

One reale-
OneReale-1Obverse-3-CrossCloseup-VNice.JPG OneReale-1Obverse-4-CloseupVNice.JPG OneReale-2Reverse-8-CloseupShield-VNice.JPG

Half Reales-
-A- 1.3 grams
Half-FullCross-1Obverse-2Label-CloseupBest.JPG Half-FullCross-2-Reverse-1-CloseupNice.JPG

-B- 1.7 grams
Half-PartialCross-4sides-B-3Reverse-CloseupNice.JPG Half-PartialCross-4sides-B-9Reverse-CloseupNice-1Dot7Grams.JPG Half-PartialCross-4sides-B-10Reverse-CloseupNice-1Dot7Grams.JPG

-C- 1.2 grams
Half-PartialCross-4sides-A-3CloseupNice-1Dot2Grams.JPG Half-PartialCross-4sides-A-6CloseupNice-1Dot2Grams.JPG

-D- 1.9 grams

Half-PartialCross-C-5Sides-8-Obverse-Label-CloseupVNice..JPG Half-PartialCross-C-5Sides-7-Obverse-Label-CloseupVNice..JPG Half-PartialCross-C-FiveSides-6-Obverse-CloseupVNice..JPG



Found at the same time in a trash/burn pit not far away there was also some lead pieces, a nail,

ChunksOflead-1.JPG Y-LongIron-5.JPG

some glass,

FirePitGlass-2-.JPG FirePitGlass-7-.JPG FirePitGlass-26OldEdge-.JPG FirePitGlass-29BrokenEdge-.JPG


and a decent sized white pottery shard w/handle (with a splash of lite blue). Unfortunately no images of the pottery made it into the online album.
(Turns out I created an album after taking the images and emailed myself a link to the album before Dorian hit. I was going through the painful task last night of thinning out 4000 emails I hadn't thrown away. I was saving any images or links to images when I spotted a link from 2018 with these images.
(See kids, it pays to be careful when you take out the trash!! :headbang:)

Here's a few more scraps of "stuff" I found that were in the album also from the salvors burn pit.

A copper "droplet" stuck to an iron piece. X-FusedCopper-IronChunk-8.JPG

And this piece (Pewter?) that has concentric lines on it and maybe some gilt?
Z-FlatLead-4.JPG Z-FlatLead-2.JPG

Z-FlatLead-6-Edge.JPG Z-FlatLead-7-EdgeClose.JPG


Z-FlatLead-9-EdgeClose.JPG Z-FlatLead-10-GiltParallelRadialLines.JPG

Z-FlatLead-11-GiltParallelRadialLines.JPG Z-FlatLead-12-GiltParallelRadialLines.JPG


Thanks for looking and hope I haven't gone on too long but I'm so excited to have the chance to share this with everyone, even if it's two years late. (That's a long time, even for me! :tongue3:)
 

Upvote 15

Blak bart

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Woooo hoooo pete !! Thats awsome buddy....I remember you telling me you had found some silver after the buckle !! Congrats my friend on that treasure coast silver !! What a sweet find !!
 

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PetesPockets55

PetesPockets55

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Apr 18, 2013
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2,880
Indian River Co., Fl
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AT MAX & Carrot, Nokta Pulse Dice (:
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Thanks everyone for taking a gander.

Woooo hoooo pete !! Thats awsome buddy....I remember you telling me you had found some silver after the buckle !! Congrats my friend on that treasure coast silver !! What a sweet find !!

Thanks Bart. I sure remember your comments after I found the buckle and you hinted that other "stuff" was being found. I didn't have these images to share but I guess I got bummed when Dorian fried my phone and didn't consider taking others.


Congrats Pete... Well done and then some.
Perseverance paid off.
Thanks AARC. I felt extremely grateful to find Spanish silver after such a short time since I got into detecting.

I voted banner....wooo hooo !!
Thank you my friend. It is probably too late after the fact but quantity of coins might make a difference.

nice pictures and a wonderful discovery i like adventures like that
Thanks Mark. It was an adventure alright.

Here's a couple of images after I had the one reale turned into a neckalce for my wife.
OneReale-1Obverse-Necklace1-Best.JPG OneReale-1Obverse-NecklaceRev1-Best.JPG

OneReale-1Obverse-NecklaceObv3-1CScale-VNice.JPG
 

Blak bart

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Jun 6, 2016
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Happy wife....happy life !! "Continue detecting sir" is the response im sure now !! My wife will pack a lunch for me now !! Nice work pete even more to the story !!
 

sphillips

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Excellent Cliff, we should go back there:laughing7:
 

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PetesPockets55

PetesPockets55

Bronze Member
Apr 18, 2013
1,635
2,880
Indian River Co., Fl
Detector(s) used
AT MAX & Carrot, Nokta Pulse Dice (:
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
So true Bart. She doesn't pack me a lunch but she sure is interested when I get home now to see if there's anything interesting.

(Rusted handguns at that one site were getting old for her. Maybe if one had been pearl handled and gold plated ....)

Excellent Cliff, we should go back ther��

I would love to but it's off limits as a construction site now.
 

Blak bart

Gold Member
Jun 6, 2016
18,548
97,691
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🥇 Banner finds
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🏆 Honorable Mentions:
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I'll be up this weekend....ill be staying at the driftwood Inn in vero....my favorite place to stay !! Wooo hooo !! Ill PM you guys when im there !!
 

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PetesPockets55

PetesPockets55

Bronze Member
Apr 18, 2013
1,635
2,880
Indian River Co., Fl
Detector(s) used
AT MAX & Carrot, Nokta Pulse Dice (:
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Thanks E-Trac. They sure were a surprise.

ps. Bart, Good seeing you last weekend. Wish I had a chance to get out with you guys.
 

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