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

bcbirdman

Jr. Member
Apr 14, 2023
79
465
Indiana
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Max
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
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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Awesome finds! I've been using a 1872 map here in Illinois , but my oldest sites are found by alot of foot work. Did you boil the quarter in a solution of water and baking soda? What's the ratio? How long?
 

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
Outstanding!!! Congrats!!! Definitely on the right search method !!!
 

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