1795 Spanish milled coin - value?

kranky

Going through some old coins that a friend got from his parents, I ran across what I think is a Spanish milled coin. It's a little smaller than a US half dollar and about half the legends are worn off. But the date (1795) is barely readable and at 11 o'clock on the obverse is "US IIII" which helped me track down what it is. On the reverse I can still make out the Spanish arms and two pillars, but ET IMP REX is the only readable legend. I don't know what the face value would have been.

Does this have any value in what I assume is Poor condition? No damage, just heavy wear. Thanks in advance.

lordmarcovan

Does it look sorta like this, except in lower grade and without the hole?



The "...US IIII" part is the end portion of the king's name: CAROLUS IIII, or Charles the Fourth of Spain. If it is a little smaller than a half dollar, it would probably be a 2-reales piece. The coin in my small picture above is a bit larger than a half dollar, and is a 4-reales piece of Charles III. The two-reales coin was commonly referred to as "two bits", or a quarter of the old Spanish Milled Dollar (which was 8 reales). This is why some old-timers in this country still refer to a US quarter as "two bits".

Like the modern quarter, the 2-reales was a workhorse of commerce and circulated all over the Americas, often for a century or more. Consequently, many are worn slick. They are the ancestor of our quarter, and were legal tender here in the United States until 1857.

You may have already known a lot of this.

It's hard to put a value on a coin that is in such low grade and probably without a mintmark to denote which Spanish colony it was struck in (there's a good chance it was Mexico City). I would guess a buck or two at most in such low grade. I think they're cool in any grade, considering their history.

lordmarcovan

PS- I dug a rather slick 2-reales piece while out with my detector a few years ago. It's a 1779. That 1783 4-reales above was found by a friend of mine near St. Augustine, FL.

kranky

Thanks a bunch, LM. The mintmark is gone, it's just barely identifiable by date and type. Doesn't look like it was dug. The one in your photo has more detail than the one I asked about, which has a bit more detail in the center, but only about half the legends.

At least I know now it's a 2 reales and can let him know what it was and its history!

You know, I think a couple of bucks is a heck of a deal for a coin that cool.

lordmarcovan

That Spanish Colonial silver is way undervalued in the books, even if it is common. Of course a Poor coin should only be worth a buck or two, but I'm shocked at how cheap the Krause Fine price is on a lot of that stuff- well under ten dollars! Ditto for 18th century British and French copper. Very common, but absurdly cheap in the lower grades (Fines for less than five bucks!) But of course you usually can't find this stuff for book price anymore unless you're lucky.