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My Oldest Coin (?) & A Mystery! :surprised:

E

Erik in NJ

New member
Hi Folks,

Just got back from a weeks vacation at an island and I seem to have located my oldest coin by far (including my 1698 Charles II Crown found in England some years ago). This is well worn and only cleaned with some soap and water so far, but it seems to show a date of 1630 or 1650 or 1563 (see along the top and/or right side of first image)....the scans don't really do it any justice. Found at just at 4 to 5 inches in very rocky/sandy soil -- this one was a bit of a surprise. It was found near where I discovered an old forgotten British gun emplacement though the island has been visited by the Spanish and pirates as well. The coin appears damaged on two sides and is composed of copper. I didn't expect to dig something like this there as I was just messing around in this spot digging all sorts of stuff.

Any help with a possible ID would be greatly appreciated and I can send better hi-res scans.
 
A nice catch if I say so myself!:buds:
 
Hi Eric,

Thanks for your reply. It sounds like you know something about these types of coins. Can you point me to any links or literature where I can see some examples and maybe try to find a match?

Thanks very much.....Erik
 
Nice find there Erik.:clapping: I hope it cleans up better for you and that you can find out for sure what it is. Post a pic if she cleans up better. HH.

Eddie
 
I was wondering how you were...in fact I almost PM'd you to see if everything was okay with you and the family since I hadn't seen you post in quite some time.

That is an ancient find...whatever it is. I am worthless on ID'ing things...but I seem to be able to make out the first 2 numbers in the date as 16. I'd say you definitely have a 16 something coin. :surprised: What a SWEET find:thumbup:
 
Hi Bryce, Thanks for thinking of us....yes everything is OK, my wife needed a vacation (and so did I) so we set one up at the last minute....didn't want to advertise that no one was home on the forum....it was very stressfull getting everything ready for the trip, but it was nice to get away, it's just that a week is too darn short when all is said and done.

The concensus so far is that this is a Spanish Maravedis cob (early to mid-1600s)...I was finding junk and modern coins (and some various military items) in an area near the hotel that I was messing around in just doing a little detecting in the evening when it finally cooled down. First I thought I found an older coin, then I figured it was just a US cent that someone had pounded to pieces. Glad I didn't toss it or lose it! I was finally able to discern enough detail to determine that it was some sort of old coin or token....and now I'm pretty excited that at least one expert (Daniel Frank Sedwick and of course Eric in RI's initial help) feels that it's likely a cob - I just ordered his book to do a little reading up. Never found a cob coin before and this is by far my earliest coin, plus finding it with my 22 month old daughter being with us on vacation and having a great time there makes this one special - even if it turns out to be of little value it's priceless to me and I think a pretty rare find especially for where I was detecting.

I hope things are well with your Dad and will send you a PM soon.

Best, Erik
 
Thanks Eddie - a little afraid to try and clean this one due to the age an potential rarity....just used a little mild soap and water with a toothbrush and maybe I shouldn't have even done that. Many of the cobs of this era look pretty rough like that...and if this one could only talk what an interesting story she would tell!
 
clad US quarters just a few feet away - a bit of a surprise to have found such an old coin at just a few inches (4 - 5) was quite a surprise to say the least although this particular coin was in a very rocky area which may have prevented its descent. I wonder what else is there - this was one of the last targets I dug one evening and I pretty much thought it was junk at the time, so I never got back to that spot.....wasn't until I was home last night and today that I realized how old it was.
 
you may want to post it there as a few really know thier stuff.

Aaron
 
Erik in NJ said:
Thanks again to Eric in RI who tentatively id'ed the coin! :clapping:
Click to expand...

You're quite welcome Erik. Thats a sweet coin, I'm still waiting to find my first cob in any denomination. Nice to know cobs are still out there for us to find :) Congrats again on a sweet piece of history.
 
Sometimes the old stuff is just right in there with the new stuff. Right were you wouldn't expect it. I would love to find something that old.That is why I keep going out
with the thought of having a bit of fun ....maybe a spot of siver, but in the back of my mind...just maybe something old and historical.Wow I love that.GL and Happy Hunting.GR
 
I just needed to get out for an hour or two even though I didn't think the area would be very productive - boy was I wrong! Funny thing was I was looking for military items although the stuff I found was fairly modern I think. Anyway, I sure if you were there you would have done better than I did. Maybe we should plan a weekend trip sometime this fall! :thumbup:
 
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