Term Clarification?
Cladiator
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Could anyone tell me what the terms "Cob" and "Milled" actually mean in reference to Spanish Colonial coinage?
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8 Reales Madness Collection
Basically, according to this article, the french sent a representative to review the process, and in written correspondance to his homeland, this person noted how coins were dumped in a pile, like 'cobs of dirt'.
So basically, the article was making a point that cob, as it was used here, was more like the english slang 'clod'.
I thought it was initeresting anyway, although I haven't looked into it much more than this.
link
As taken from that page:
"Always examine the edging. The real columnario has floral edging of made up of about 40 laurel leafs and is very difficult to replicate. Note that from 1762 on the leaves always pointed in the same direction. Before that, the leaves switched direction halfway around the coin. "
Credit goes to Carl Clegg for the above documentation.
<< <i>Could anyone tell me what the terms "Cob" and "Milled" actually mean in reference to Spanish Colonial coinage? >>
The two terms have more to do with planchet preparation than anything else. In the cob series the planchets were roughly sliced off of silver bars ( somewhat shaped like corn cobs ) and then shaved to the desired weight. In the milled series, the planchets were cut from mechanically milled and rolled strip and were for the most part the correct weight as cut. Sometimes light adjustment with a file was needed.
<< <i>Excellent information guys, thank you. On Spanish Colonial Reale coins the edges all have a wavy look to them. I've never seen the edge straight on, only what you can see from looking at the obverse or reverse. Was this just their form of edge reeding? Anyone have a photo of it? Do we know how it was done, (castaing machine)? >>
Yes it was their form of edge reeding. As to how it was done, the design was rolled on an edge die ( for lack of a better term, it was actually 2 parallel bars ) after the coin had been struck. That's why the edge design often intrudes into the rim of the coin, sometimes even into the legends. Re: pics, there have been several posted over the years but I don't have links to any right off. And it depends on what date and mint as to what the design looks like. While they are all similar ( for the pillar series ), there are minor differences in look and direction.
<< <i>From the obverse or the reverse, the edge does have a wavy sort of appearance. Whereas I checked a couple places and could not find a specific image taken of the edge, I did find this article on fakes, which shows some common type counterfeit edging:
link
As taken from that page:
"Always examine the edging. The real columnario has floral edging of made up of about 40 laurel leafs and is very difficult to replicate. Note that from 1762 on the leaves always pointed in the same direction. Before that, the leaves switched direction halfway around the coin. "
Credit goes to Carl Clegg for the above documentation. >>
That's not entirely correct Rick, but it is partially correct. Mexico City and Guatemala were the mints where the laurel leaves pointed in opposite directions. That did stop ( on the 8 reales ) at those two mints in 1762 or 1763. Up until then 2 clear joints in the edge design were visible. After that date, it became quite difficult to even find the single joint created by the two bars.
At the Lima mint the laurel leaves pointed in 2 directions until 1752. After that they all pointed the same way but the 2 joints were always visible. The Santiago and Santa Fe mints were similar.
At the Potosi mint, the laurel leaves always pointed the same direction with only 1 joint visible.
Please notice, the above only applies to the 8 reales. The 4 reales for example sometimes had the leaves going in oppsosite directions, or the same direction, until the end of the pillar series in 1772. For the lower denominations, there really was no pattern to the edge design.
When the portrait series began, the edge design changed entirely - similar to a chain of rectangles and circles.
<< <i>When the portrait series began, the edge design changed entirely - similar to a chain of rectangles and circles. >>
With portraits, the blanks were edged first, then struck. The pattern should be circle - rectangle - circle - rectangle with no variation in the pattern EXCEPT at the two points where the edge design overlaps (at the start and end).
8 Reales Madness Collection