Thoughts?

[WilliVanilli]

I dug this yesterday in central Virginia. I believe it to be a 1 reale from Segovia, Spain. Assayer Fernando Vazquez. 1721, or 1726-1729. It weighs 1.2 grams.

 

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[WilliVanilli]

 

[Mackaydon]

Coin appears to be as you said, but the weight seems light. The standard weight is 3.43 grams for a one real; or 1.71g for a half real.
Yours, at 1.2g, is about 30% light of the standard yet your coin does not reflect a 30% decrease in weight due to environmental issues, clipping or other issues.
Don......

 

[WilliVanilli]

Coin appears to be as you said, but the weight seems light. The standard weight is 3.43 grams for a one real; or 1.71g for a half real.
Yours, at 1.2g, is about 30% light of the standard yet your coin does not reflect a 30% decrease in weight due to environmental issues, clipping or other issues.
Don......

Thanks for the input. From what I’ve read, the stuff from Spain was 20% lighter than others and it should have originally weighed 3 grams. My scale may be slightly off as well.

 

[Mackaydon]

What you wrote interests me.
Can you cite the source that writes about Spanish coins weighing 20% less than standard?
Don......

 

[WilliVanilli]

What you wrote interests me.
Can you cite the source that writes about Spanish coins weighing 20% less than standard?
Don......

Sure. I’ll have to do some digging. I’ve been on Spanish silver information overload trying to ID this piece. It was difficult for me to nail it down and I only found 1 pic of it online. There is also conflicting information as can be expected. I got the final ID from coindatabase.com

 

[ARC]

Its right. IMO

Coin hack and wear accounts for weight.

 

[WilliVanilli]

What you wrote interests me.
Can you cite the source that writes about Spanish coins weighing 20% less than standard?
Don......

As far as the weight issue goes, coindatabase.com has that type of coin listed at 3 grams. I have an update on the identification to throw out. Apparently the Madrid and Segovia mints had slight variations in the crown. Based on that information plus assayer, I now believe this coin to be a 1731 Madrid reale and not a Segovia reale.

 

[WilliVanilli]

Its right. IMO

Coin hack and wear accounts for weight.

This coin has little, if any, wear. I think I may have scratched it while digging or the excitement soon after. It must have been lost very soon after it was made. I just received new information about it. Check out my reply. 🙄

 

[smokeythecat]

I like it! Around here they are hard to find, cut or not.

 

[WilliVanilli]

I like it! Around here they are hard to find, cut or not.

In my opinion, they are not easy to find anywhere. Less likely the farther west you go. I know guys that have been detecting a long time and haven’t pulled 1. I don’t care that it’s cut or scratched. It’s still an amazing piece of history.

 

[cuzcosquirrel]

I think you have it right. The "maquinedas" and Mexico, lima, and Potosi reals had a greater silver content in them, making them heavier. Most Spanish coins minted in Spain had more copper or some other metal added, and were called vellons, or billion pistareens, and were discounted.

 

[pigeonman]

Here's one i found in southern NJ. WEIGHT 2.17 grams and yes they are hard to find. my only one, and at least 20 reales.

 

[WilliVanilli]

Here's one i found in southern NJ. WEIGHT 2.17 grams and yes they are hard to find. my only one, andView attachment 1679635 at least 20 reales.View attachment 1679633View attachment 1679634

Nice! Did you get a solid ID?

 

[huntsman53]

IMHO, one of the reason that the O.P.'s cut 1 Reale coin is light is because it is apparent at least to my' eyes that the original whole was not cut perfectly in half and the O.P. found the lesser sized and weighted piece.

 

[bradyboy]

great find and great informative post
Brady

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Nice find!

 

[WilliVanilli]

Here's one i found in southern NJ. WEIGHT 2.17 grams and yes they are hard to find. my only one, andView attachment 1679635 at least 20 reales.View attachment 1679633View attachment 1679634

Another 1 on Sunday, omg!!!

 

[A2coins]

Holy Molly that's treasure