Odds of finding Spanish silver in Midwest, US?

[Capone]

I have a new bucket list item to find. That would be a spanish dollar, or reale. Problem is, I live in Minnesota.

I see that MN became a state nearly the same year that Spanish silver was no longer considered legal tender, and only 150,000 people lived here.

Has anyone ever found Spanish silver in the Midwest, USA? Give me some hope!

 

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[TerryC]

Do some research on French fur traders in the Midwest. Maybe you can find other (Lewis & Clark) historic adventures that occurred in the Midwest prior to statehood. ╦╦Ç

 

[Loco-Digger]

Dug a 1780 Real here in Ohio in an area that was not settled until the 18-teens.

 

[smokeythecat]

Stuff was carried all over the country as late as the Civil War. Actually, some people carry the old stuff around as jewelry still today. There is a chance, but more chance on the East Coast or right near the fur trading areas of the great lakes, which is closer for you.

 

[coinman123]

I have only found one in New England. The chances in the mid west will be quite lower than in the east, but still not impossible.

 

[smokeythecat]

The are hard to get . Over the years I have found them in Maryland, PA, Delaware and New York. Bought a few from shipwrecks too.

 

[SD51]

Growing up in MN, I always hoped to find some Viking artifacts ( not from the NFL team). You might take a look at the history of what's been found to-date.

 

[fistfulladirt]

Dug a well-worn 1758 in a farmyard in lower Michigan, area settled about 1830.

 

[Digzit2]

There has been a few found here in Illinois that I know of.

 

[WhiteTornado]

I would think your best bet is to try hunting the oldest farmlands in your region where you can get permission. Happy hunting!

 

[coinman123]

Any thing is possible though. I found a 1656-1658 French Liard in an area not even settled until the 1730's (by the Irish, not the french). Maybe a fur trader or Indian who received it by the French got it? It could have just stayed in circulation until the 1730's, used as a farthing. I also found a 1696 English Halfpenny in another town, settled also in the 1730's, I am sure that coin was dropped by the early settlers of the town in the 1730's or 1740's. With enough searching you can find anything, even stuff that predates your town by decades.

If you were wondering, I live in New Hampshire.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Stuff was carried all over the country as late as the Civil War. Actually, some people carry the old stuff around as jewelry still today. There is a chance, but more chance on the East Coast or right near the fur trading areas of the great lakes, which is closer for you.

Good answer. They circulated all over the USA, I thought, up to the early 1800's. So as long as areas of Minnesota date to the early 1800s or earlier, there ought to be potential for Spanish reales.

I get them here in CA frequently.

 

[toasted]

I live in an area settled as early as 1640 and have hunted a bunch of early sites. Not much Spanish for me but all mine are very early. The vast majority of Spanish silver found and posted date from the last quarter of the 18th century and are usually very worn so dropped well into the 1800s but no later than 1857(demonitized). Plenty of settlement in the midwest by then

 

[DetectingGodlikeOnOlympus]

Anything can happen. I'm out West and I once found a very nice Capped Bust dime once after licking a frog and wandering around the woods next to a creek.

 

[coinman123]

Anything can happen. I'm out West and I once found a very nice Capped Bust dime once after licking a frog and wandering around the woods next to a creek.

With or without a metal detector lol. Certainly a unique way to treasure hunt!

 

[Scrappy]

I'd say you have decent chances. Some coins circulated for 60 years or more. The only thing that put a damper on that was the Coinage Act of 1857. Good luck

 

[Kurios1]

There has been a few found here in Illinois that I know of.

I know of two reales dug here in Illinois as well. Certainly has to be more than that. I reckon most are recovered near a larger river where traders would be bringing it with them from other areas.

 

[nagant]

After Spain took over the west side of the Mississippi 1762-1802. a lot of the trade routes remained so i could see coins finding there way to Canada. I think they have been found in green bay and Prairie du Chien wisconsin. Vincennes Indiana had tie's to the french communities along the Miss. too, so they were everywhere but how many were lost? If the Kelly's bluff treasure in Dubuque Iowa being found is believed, (It was i read the newspaper story, and heard enough to satisfy me ) was said to contain many types of coins including Spanish.

 

[sawmill man]

I would think any land close to the Mississippi and other joining rivers could be good prospects for just about anything

 

[nagant]

Yeah the lines draw by the powers in charge were a sieve when it came to trading.