made it to the 1700s I think

[donkarlos]

made it to the 1700's I think

I admit, I've been hitting ball fields lately just score clad and hoping for a ring. Today the new field was closed off so I hit a short trail that was mostly an old road. Looked like a good silver area and I found nothing but a few zincs and shell casings.
Then this popped out - only a few inches down but I could tell it was old. I'll probably never get a date out of it but it seems to be a 10 reale copper from Brazil.
Hard to photograph:








And here is an internet picture of what I think it is:

 

[Old Dude]

Congrats....I hope you find that's exactly what you found!

 

[romeo-1]

Think you nailed it!!! Nice find!

 

[donkarlos]

Thanks- I'm actually thinking it is a 20 or 40 reis now from what I've been looking at. It's about 31mm diameter at this point. It may have been counterstamped, which makes the middle hard to read. Plus, its thin as a potato chip. Nothing but patina holding the lettering on..

 

[Rusted_Iron]

Nice early find!

 

[TNGUNS]

Congrats ......... hoping you get a positive ID on it. Looks similar but some of it a bit different. Just when I thought no, then find another part that matches. Anxious to hear what the coin experts think. Either way I think it is safe to say that puppy is old.

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Nice! Congrats on breaking the time barrier!

 

[donkarlos]

Thanks all!
It's hard to photograph the minute details left, but after studying it and looking up the different designs I've figured out its a 20 reis (XX) from Brazil. I used a little light on an angle and could make out the three rosettes with the XX in between.
*X*X*
Now they had this design through the 1700s and early 1800s, so for now I'm stuck without an actual date (or century), but it is still a thrill to know this was held in human hands on an incredible journey to New England from Brazil and who knows where in between. Really priceless..

 

[oxbowbarefoot]

Well, Isn't that interesting. I haven't seen one of those before. Nice find and welcome to the 1700's club (even without a firm date, you are being issued your invitation to join ) What area of New England are you from?

 

[ynpto804]

Nice find. I dug one of those about 8 months ago in the city of Richmond. I don't see them posted often.

 

[donkarlos]

Nice find. I dug one of those about 8 months ago in the city of Richmond. I don't see them posted often.

Cool. Their history was interesting to read about. I hope my next one is silver, though.

 

[Prestigitation Digger]

Anyone know about their purity levels? Im thinking the fertilizers dropped on the ball field helped to degrade the coin due to a lower grade metal being used. Not unheard of back then...

 

[ModernMiner]

"I admit, I've been hitting ball fields lately just score clad and hoping for a ring."

I love hunts like this where the unexpected pops up. Congrats on the 1700's coin. Great recovery.
-MM-

 

[relicmeister]

Very nice find-way to go.

 

[donkarlos]

Anyone know about their purity levels? Im thinking the fertilizers dropped on the ball field helped to degrade the coin due to a lower grade metal being used. Not unheard of back then...

It does seem to be a lower quality metal. I guess some Brazilian silver was really just re-struck silvers of other countries (if I understood correctly). I don't know if they did it with coppers. I did find an 1820 large cent this year in almost identical soil/forest and it is night and day different from this reis, which is down to the thickness of a dog license tag. I was actually surprised to figure out it was a coin!

 

[Old Dude]

"I admit, I've been hitting ball fields lately just score clad and hoping for a ring."

I love hunts like this where the unexpected pops up. Congrats on the 1700's coin. Great recovery.
-MM-

Sometimes if I find something that just doesn't make sense, I always wonder if maybe a club had seeded the area for a member's event and it was never recovered. I have a busy mind with many avenues of direction, lol!


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