An amazing day - 1747 Spanish 2 Reales (plus a seated Half dime and quarter)

[bcbirdman]

Something feels wrong about posting a third Spanish real in a month time frame when I've never found one before this year. haha I found my first ever, an 1818 2 Reales, exactly one month ago. Then on November 10th I found a 1776 one. And two days ago, I found this stunning 1747 2 Reales!!! All three were found in different fields but are within about 5 miles of each other here in western Indiana. I've been doing things slightly differently lately and have been going to fields with the mindset of finding sites that pre-date our 1874 maps (our oldest around here). I have been walking to the high spots in fields and carefully listening for any collection of iron I might hear in the ground and searching where I hear it. This is how I found two of my reales.

This day, the 1747 coin was my first good find. I found it on a little rise in the field with some small iron signals nearby. I ended up pulling a strange brass relic out of the same spot not far from the 2 Reales (included in this series. I think it might be an old brass key that is broken). About an hour later I came across the 1849-O seated half dime which appeared to be on an old homesite that wasn't mapped (bunch of iron and a couple old horseshoes). Then by pure luck (no iron around to indicate a homesite), I stumbled upon this 1876-S seated quarter! No other signals were around. I posted a before and after photo showing what it looks like after cleaning with boiling water and baking soda. I'm not going to clean the 1747 coin (don't want to diminish the value and lose the nice contrast that the dark corrosion provides). Normally I would be extremely happy to find just one of these two American coins, but today they unexpectedly were overshadowed!

The last find was a 1939 chauffer's badge? Dog tag? Not silver but a fun find. haha

 

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[Jeff H]

You are doing very well with the Spanish silver! Don't feel too bad about it. Yeah, that brass piece is a broken key.

 

[bcbirdman]

You are doing very well with the Spanish silver! Don't feel too bad about it. Yeah, that brass piece is a broken key.

Something feels wrong about it haha. Feels like someone is planting these for me to find. And thanks for confirmation on the key!

 

[ironhorse]

It's always reassuring that when your research is solid and pays off.
Its extra special when your gut tells you where the treasure lies!
You have a good collection of old silvers started based on your research and gut feeling.
Although most of our finds aren't super valuable dollar-wise ,they have more of a sentimental value that cant be measured because we went out and discovered it and now we get to care take it.
Keep those great finds coming!

 

[Mackaydon]

Great saves !! You're certainly in the right area. Keep swinging; the next year the 2R was minted (after 1747) was 1750; a coin of at least 10X the value of the one you found.
Don in SoCal

 

[bcbirdman]

It's always reassuring that when your research is solid and pays off.
Its extra special when your gut tells you where the treasure lies!
You have a good collection of old silvers started based on your research and gut feeling.
Although most of our finds aren't super valuable dollar-wise ,they have more of a sentimental value that cant be measured because we went out and discovered it and now we get to care take it.
Keep those great finds coming!

Well said. This is exactly why I value them. The first thing people often ask me is how much they're worth, but I usually don't think about that because I'm never going to sell them. They're treasure to me!

 

[camichael]

I thought that was a dog tag .... Nice finds!!

 

[bcbirdman]

I thought that was a dog tag .... Nice finds!!

Maybe it is a dog tag! I wasn't sure. I have found a chauffer's license before, and it reminded me of that but dog tag might be the better ID