My first Cob

[RushinPA]

I know very little about these so any information or direction to good online reference material would be greatly appreciated. I am so stoked at this moment. Looks like I have some studying to do.

 

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[Trez]

RushinPa,
I have provided a link below to help get you in the right direction.
Stoked, I do remember a day when I also was stoked when I found what I thought was a "real" reales, it was pruchased by myself when I first started this wonderful study of cob coinage because I thought it was from the Atocha...upon hearing it was a fake, it made me realize as did Elmer Fudd "be very very careful"
I hate that after feeling. Excited and stoked to WTF, I share your pain.

http://www.macuquina.com/intro-to_cobs/intro_to_cobs_18.htm - is the link that will show you what "would have been" your coin

The Link below is where your piece belongs

*FAKE COBS: ALERTS AND DATABASE by Daniel Frank Sedwick, LLC.

Trez

 

[RushinPA]

Later last night into early this morning, I was reading through those sites. I realized that it could not be an actual cob, but it was neat to pull out of the ground. Anyway my teenage son will probably make a medalion out of it. I did send the pics to Sedwick last night. Once I had read material on assayers marks, and other markings, I became aware it was most likely not. First, it is in too good condition to be that old. It would be worn down, people did not protect them as they do now days. Second the assayers mark is 1/4 to the best of my interpretation, which did not have a match of known marks. I did learn alot the past 24 hours so maybe I'll have another chance to find one. I do feel like Elmer Fudd.....duh.

 

[realeswatcher]

... First, it is in too good condition to be that old. It would be worn down, people did not protect them as they do now days. ...

"It's too nice" isn't really a good description of why it can't real... If you want to express that the metal's surface has a finish or sheen that wouldn't be seen on a 400-year-old piece (even if nearly uncirculated), that's one thing. However, there are plenty of very well-preserved authentic pieces out there that, in broad terms, "look good". Particularly, the style of coin that this modern tourist-type replica is imitative of (early Lima shield-type, assayer Diego de la Torre) is actually known for being just about the nicest, well-executed "cob" style coinage out of South America... authentic pieces look "too good" almost more often than not.

Funny that Elmer Fudd came up, b/c that is a nice segue into the main way to tell this piece is a replica... Coin people refer to design elements on such a piece as "cartoonish", in that they are not realistic or precisely faithful to the detail of the originals (not an exact casting of an original, as is often seen). If you're familiar with these types, that would be the immediate tip-off... which is why it always helps to know what you're looking at. As you noted, nonsense markings in place of the mintmark/assayer/denomination is one manifestation of this.