Started the colonial silver season off with a BIG splash...a BIG HUNK OF SILVER!!!!

[HomeGuardDan]

The land season is present and while I managed to have another solid season of recovering colonial coins from the water, that is now in the rear-view for the next few months.

I started the land season off a couple of weeks ago with a decent splash by recovering the flying eagle penny and the 1500-1600's apostle spoon end. Yesterday was the second trip of the season and I got on the board with a BANG!

My good pal Bill D and I got back to one of our tried and true spots. This place has yielded some killer coins over the past few years and while it is tough going these days, good finds are still hiding. We had a freshly rolled peanut field as an added advantage this year and were excited to get into it.

The day actually started off very slow with the occasional colonial buckle piece and lead blob. Bill began to find a few buttons and as I asked him to slow down he replied "don't worry, I know when I start off like this you end up pulling a silver out." No sooner than he said that, I had a nice target that sounded like silver, but a much higher reading. I had been digging some can slaw and figured it would be another piece, until I saw it pop out of the dirt. A killer 8-bit spanish cob (likely from the mid to early 1600s)! This thing is HUGE (in my D. Trump impression). While the actual width/height is only slightly smaller than a half dollar, it is as thick as a silver dollar and quite hefty!

My day was complete already, though only beginning. I began to recover a few flat buttons and buckles pieces when we were joined by a guest we had invited. We hung out for a few minutes and then the three of us got back at it. Slow and steady was the action for the day as we each continued to dig a few pieces here and there. Towards the end of the day I dug what I knew was going to be another flat button when to my surprise a nice 1830's era U.S. Marine 1-piece button popped out. I actually had never dug a 1-piece marine before and was very happy to add this one to the collection. Shortly after that I recovered a nice late 1600's-early 1700's glass embedded cuff-link with a star design.

My take for the day was 11 buttons, a few musket balls and shot, a civil war C.S. gardner bullet, buckle pieces (including a broken trapezoidal buckle and inlayed from the 1600s-1700s) and other odds and ends (thimble, tacks, etc.). I also managed to recover two nice hammers (one from the late 1700s-early 1800s and the other most likely from the late 1600s-early 1700s.

Our colonial silver competition (Bill D vs Me) is officially on with a 1-0 lead early in the season. I know I will need to build a hefty lead to win back the trophy this year as Bill as not just an able competitor, but the stapled-crown!

HH

Dan

 

[HomeGuardDan]

Fantastic finds. Love the cob. Sure thats an 8 reales? Needs to weight close to 27 grams for that. Like Steve says, maybe a 4?

I was speaking generally. Honestly not weighed it yet. It is most likely a 4-R unless a heavily clipped 8-R. I know the 4-R milled coins are fairly rare to find. I immediately left town for business so not had a chance to look through my cob bible to try and identify what I can from the limited markings left.

 

[HomeGuardDan]

Congrats on the spanish cob, based on its size relationship to your fingers I'm guessing a 2 reale...maybe a 4 reale if its thick. Get an accurate weight and you'll know for sure. Quite a day you guys had, big congrats

Def not a 2. I have a few of those and they are half as thick. I said 8-bit just to be funny and vague as I did not actually ID what it was and even 8-bit was wrong as that refers to cut coins ha. It is as thick as an 8-R cob but slightly smaller (more like 32mm) so fairly sure it is a 4-R

 

[joeyfresh]

Definitely a 4R and a beautiful one at that. Congrats on some amazing early season finds!

 

[joeyfresh]

I want to vote banner but I don't know how on my phone?

 

[sutphin]

UN FROGGING REAL . IM JUST AMAZED HOW THESE FINDS HAVE REMAINED INTACT ALL THOSE YEARS . THE WOOLY MAMMOTH FIND WAS ANOTHER GREAT FIND BY THE FARMER RECENTLY . HGW LOVE THE BUTTONS AND THE NEEET COBBLER HAMMER HEAD .

 

[HomeGuardDan]

I want to vote banner but I don't know how on my phone?

Thanks man...just click the little banner button ha...BTW it is the mini me to the one you foundthe other year

 

[Patriot Relics]

Def not a 2. I have a few of those and they are half as thick. I said 8-bit just to be funny and vague as I did not actually ID what it was and even 8-bit was wrong as that refers to cut coins ha. It is as thick as an 8-R cob but slightly smaller (more like 32mm) so fairly sure it is a 4-R

Sounds good to me, can't wait for updates regarding size, period, and mint congrats again!

 

[toasted]

I'm voting banner. A cob needs to be up there for once. Especially a nice dug 4R

 

[T-Bone]

Great find!
Skippy thanks for the cob lesson very interesting!

 

[toddsumm1]

Wow! I could only hope and dream to find those items. My land season resumes tomorrow at my colonial field. Good rain and a fresh harvest of the sorghum. Hope the digging was easy for you, I have stiff stalks to navigate in my future. Cheers!

 

[HomeGuardDan]

I'm voting banner. A cob needs to be up there for once. Especially a nice dug 4R

Thanks man, I'm happy with it

 

[HomeGuardDan]

Wow! I could only hope and dream to find those items. My land season resumes tomorrow at my colonial field. Good rain and a fresh harvest of the sorghum. Hope the digging was easy for you, I have stiff stalks to navigate in my future. Cheers!

I wish you all the best man. You'll get it, I am sure

 

[Silver Tree Chaser]

Dan - Awesome Finds!!! I can see that you and Bill are starting off the fall season the right way with impressive finds. I look forward to seeing what else you pull up in the next few months.

 

[HomeGuardDan]

Dan - Awesome Finds!!! I can see that you and Bill are starting off the fall season the right way with impressive finds. I look forward to seeing what else you pull up in the next few months.

Thanks man...it has been a good couple of first trips and funny that they are at a site that we have pounded. Makes our older sites seem promising for return visits during mundane times. And for your "footnote" sadly no I have no Mass Silver ha ha but I dearly want one!

 

[HomeGuardDan]

Very cool finds. Prompted me to go look up the history of Spanish Cobs. Neat!

EDIT: For those who don't know:
taken from: Spanish Colonial Cobs: Introduction

572-1773

As additional silver deposits were discovered in the colonial territories there was a pressing demand to export it to Spain as quickly as possible. To do this, starting in the reign of Philip II, the mints produced irregular coinage called cobs. Rather than rolling out a bar of silver into a sheet of a specific thickness that could then be cut into smooth round planchets which would be stamped into coins, a faster method was employed. A bar of silver (see examples of gold bars in our Spanish gold listings) was simply cut into chunks of the appropriate weight. These small sliver clumps were then treated as if they were finished planchets and were hammer struck between crude dies. In fact, the Spanish word "cabo" (from which the English "cob" is derived) refers to the end; in this instance, the clump of silver clipped off the end of the bar. The size, shape and impression of these cobs was highly irregular but they were the proper weight. Many cobs were quite thick and disfigured with large cracks. Also, these uneven clumps made poor planchets so that frequently only a small portion of the image on the die was impressed on the silver. If a cob was overweight the minter simply clipped a piece off, further disfiguring the coin. During the seventeenth century a few full sized finished coins called "royal or presentation strikes" by present day collectors were also produced but it was only the crude cob that was mass produced.

Thanks man. A great book (I own it an use it frequently) is Craig's Spanish Colonial Silver Coins in the Florida Collection Highly recommend it for reading on cobs https://books.google.com/books?id=E...ved=0CEcQ6AEwBWoVChMIk4-S48ywyAIVxRo-Ch3haAlI

 

[CRUSADER]

Looks a bit like my 'brought' 1715? Very nice find indeed!!!!

 

[HomeGuardDan]

Looks a bit like my 'brought' 1715? Very nice find indeed!!!!

Thanks Cru - not sure I follow on the "brought 1715" line ha.

 

[Dirtwisher]

I want to vote banner but I don't know how on my phone?

You can't. That's the problem!

 

[HomeGuardDan]

You can't. That's the problem!

I just tested it on my phone and it worked.

 

[metalev4]

Cob is a stunner Dan. Tough to dig one that big. Congrats as well on the nice 1 piece Marine and cufflink. A really nice hunt overall. Hope to get to dig with you this winter or spring.
-Evan