Spanish unknown

tbirde56

I think I may have asked about one like this before but all my files were lost on a computer crash a few months ago:




TIA

Sapyx

It's brassy looking, I assume? It's a "pirate coin", a copy of a "Reyes Catolicos" silver coin of Mainland Spain, during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, early 1500's. Copies are apparently commonly found in the pirate-themed tourist traps on the southeastern US coast. They often come with garbled legends, but yours seems to be a reasonably faithful reproduction. Here's an example of a genuine 2 reales on CoinArchives.

If it does actually look like silver, then it might be genuine, but genuine coins of this type aren't usually this round.

lordmarcovan

As usual, I have nothing intelligent to add after Sapyx the Sage has spoken, except to say that a piece of similar design (and genuine) was dug just north of here in coastal GA, causing a bit of speculation that it might give Georgia a claim to the site of San Miguel de Gualdape, the first European settlement in what is now the USA.

But of course they'd need a lot more archaeological proof than a Ferdinand and Isabella-era coin. Those have been found before in Florida and Georgia. After all, coins circulated for a long time back then, unless they were lost. Who's to say the coin that was found near here wasn't dropped later, in the 1600s or even a little later than that? Still, it would be mindblowing to find one that old. My oldest found is 1658, and the oldest any of my friends have dug was a tiny cob half-real struck no earlier than about the 1590s.

coachleonard

I would also agree this ferd. and isabella coin looks too brassy and round to be the genuine article. That said, however, it at least looks aged and well-done enough (unlike other cheesy repros I have seen of this coin) to warrant the possibility of it being a 1600s-1700s counterfeit that once was silvered--- and being an older Spanish silver coin design as opposed to a current one, the purpose was to arouse less careful scrutiny. Just a theory anyway to throw into the mix anyway.

But speaking of what LordMarcovan bring up San Miguel Gualdape, in addition to that ferd and isabella coin being found, I would think those settlers also brought over Santo Domingo coppers, as that is where they were from. Which brings to mind a question I had: I had always thought the San Domingo coppers of the 1500s were all the crude pillars on one side and big cursive "V" on the other side. Yet I have also seen Spanish coppers with a lion on the obverse, castle on reverse and "S.P" marks being attributed as Santo Domingo coppers. Anyone know for sure?