Reeded edge cob. LINK TO CATALOG/IMAGE ADDED

MrEureka

Here's my latest purchase, from the recent Baldwin's auction.



It was described as follows:

"Countermarks listed by area of Circulation. Brazil. Mex ico, Mexico City, Philip IV, 8-Reales, mm P (1634-1665), 27.37g, countermarked with crowned “600” (1663), crowned armillary globe (1668), as 600-Reis, the milled edge has been added. Very f ine. From The Alan Harley collection of Countermarked Latin American coins. bought Simmons The milled edge could have been added as an experiment. The technology was well established having been used on the Spanish coins from the early 19th century"

The edge is obviously old, not a modern concoction.

It's easy to imagine the edge being applied (by someone, somewhere) to protect it from clipping. Beyond that, I'm at a loss to say where it was done, or when. And I have no idea if the piece should be considered damaged and nearly worthless, or if it should be considered a great and valuable rarity.

Has anyone here seen anything like this before? Thoughts?

IloiloKano

This isn't my area of expertise, not even close, but I've been watching the thread to see what others have to say.
Sadly, there has been no response yet, so consider this a .

By the way, a picture would be nice, if you have one.

Andres

sounds interesting, never seen a cob with a milled edge , seems to me like an impossible job , unless done by hand.
please show us a picture , Andy

MrEureka

Strange that the image is no longer on Sixbid.

Anyway, you can see the coin here:

PDF of entire collection (See lot 1860)

Sorry I can't give you a link to the individual lot...

Andres

Agree with the description, somekind of expiriment to make a portuguese /brazilian circulation coin out of a spanish cob.
17th century economics ? , avoiding the usually meltdown of the crude cobs, to transfer them into coins.

Quote : ""The technology was well established having been used on the Spanish coins from the early 19th century""
Baldwin's probably means from the 16th century.

Well done , Andy

Aegis3

Let's see if this works. Small image.

Hussulo

Interesting coin Andy and congrats on winning it. Hopefully this will work:

SYRACUSIAN

Hus, you're the man. I was too lazy to go down 1860 lots.

TwoKopeiki

Interesting piece, Andy. Would love to see the image of the edge, if possible. Does it look like a single edge die, or are there overlaps as you would see on a milled coin of that time and breaks in the edge pattern?

MrEureka

Does it look like a single edge die, or are there overlaps as you would see on a milled coin of that time and breaks in the edge pattern?

As I remember it, it's a crude but not horrible "colonial edge". Beyond that, I'll need to wait until it shows up in the mail before I can tell you any more.

BTW, my best guess is that the edge was applied in the Caribbean. But I admit that it's a somewhat wild guess.