Need cob ID

Bill D. (VA) · Feb 7, 2013

Found this yesterday at a site that was giving up 1600s artifacts. It looks like it either dates to 1617 or 1717. Can someone verify that, and tell me what denomination it came from? Appreciate any assistance.

Mackaydon · Feb 7, 2013

General Rule of Thumb (Felipe V vintage--Mexico):
If the diameter is 28mm= 2 reales; if 34mm= 4 reales; and if 40mm= 8 reales.
Don.....
(Referring to the coin on the right.)

Mackaydon · Feb 7, 2013

A WAG for the coin on the left is a Mexican 1/2 R if it weighs between 1.6 and 1.7 grams; or a 1R if it weighs between 3.4 and 3.5 grams.
Felipe V--1717.

Bill D. (VA) · Feb 8, 2013

Mackaydon said:
A WAG for the coin on the left is a Mexican 1/2 R if it weighs between 1.6 and 1.7 grams; or a 1R if it weighs between 3.4 and 3.5 grams.
Felipe V--1717.

Thanks a lot for replying Mackaydon. However, based on the curvature around the perimeter of the coin the radius is much larger than a 1/2 reale. I laid the coin on a piece of paper and traced around the edge, then kept moving it along so I could outline the entire circumference and approximate what the whole coin would have looked like. When I did that it appears the full sized coin would have been about 33 mm (see pic below), which matches up nicely with a 4 reale as you mentioned above. Does that make any sense? I don't have any scales to weigh the piece to get further confirmation.

Mackaydon · Feb 8, 2013

Bill,
I considered the possibility that the coin you refer to immediately above IS the entire coin. Said differently, the curvature of the coin may have been created by 'snipping'-- post production-and assumed the edge was not reeded. I looked at the reverse ('cross') image and attempted to picture the coin as a piece of eight (or another denomination) but when I drew a similar outline, too much of the planchet would have been void of any design IMO.
Don.....

Diver_Down · Feb 8, 2013

Mackaydon said:
A WAG for the coin on the left is a Mexican 1/2 R if it weighs between 1.6 and 1.7 grams; or a 1R if it weighs between 3.4 and 3.5 grams.
Felipe V--1717.

Don is correct. It is a Mexico City 1/2 R minted during the reign of Philip V (1st period). The full cross wouldn't be evident on clipped larger denomination. And the ghost-like remnants of the monogram is indicative of the 1/2 R. Monograms were only used on 1/2 R denominations. Larger denominations would have the shield/cross.

Bill D. (VA) · Feb 8, 2013

Diver_Down said:
Don is correct. It is a Mexico City 1/2 R minted during the reign of Philip V (1st period). The full cross wouldn't be evident on clipped larger denomination. And the ghost-like remnants of the monogram is indicative of the 1/2 R. Monograms were only used on 1/2 R denominations. Larger denominations would have the shield/cross.

Thanks for the confirmation. Even though I've dug a number of cobs I always seem to have difficulty ID'ing them since pieces to the puzzle always seem to be missing. Thanks again.