Do We Have Spanish Silver from the Beach??!!??

[cambria09]

Hello All. I found this a few days ago at the seashore. At first I thought it to be a piece of junk brass because of the weight and lack of corrosion.

When I got home I carefully scraped on it a bit and uncovered the design pictured. Seeing the cross pattern I STOPPED SCRAPING!!

This piece is really weird because appears to be cut as a symmetric triangle except at the bottom where it looks broke off. It varies in thickness from about 1/8 to 3/16 of an inch and it is not magnetic. The "cross" pattern is offset from the center of the piece as if it was hand-stamped and it has the look of old Spanish silver pieces that I see on the net. The back is completely covered with a tough sand accretion.

I am not a beach hunter, in fact this is my first serious beach hunt thanks to Btoots...thanks Btoots! So what do you think do we have Spanish silver and HOW DO I CLEAN THIS THING

Thanks for the view an any info is appreciated. C9

 

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[SkaBa]

Nice find, real or not.

 

[TheInspector]

I don't have an answer, but it looks promising.


Best of luck

 

[ivan salis]

the cross type screams mexico mint ...different mints had different cross "designs" at various times...

 

[bonepicker]

Looks like a spanish silver cob to me.
Heres an interesting link that will explain why its not round like a coin.
http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinIntros/Sp-Cobs.intro.html
Im no expert, never found one, but you may want to search the word "cob".
I would suggest a lemon juice soak or electrolysis, but I would wait for the experts on that one as well.
The crust gives it character and kind of screams shipwreck silver, but I can see why you would want to clean it up.

 

[Btoots]

Pics turned out good, we'll get the right info soon enough and get this thing cleaned, then we'll have something to smile about. I've been looking over pics for about an hour and nothing on google looks close...yet....

 

[Mackaydon]

It's about 90% silver; clean with electrolysis.
It's denomination can be determined by its weight.
27 grams for an 8 reales coin; other probably denominations are 4R 2R and 1R-of proportionlly less weight.
Don.....

 

[cambria09]

Looks like a spanish silver cob to me.
Heres an interesting link that will explain why its not round like a coin.
Spanish Colonial Cobs: Introduction
Im no expert, never found one, but you may want to search the word "cob".
I would suggest a lemon juice soak or electrolysis, but I would wait for the experts on that one as well.
The crust gives it character and kind of screams shipwreck silver, but I can see why you would want to clean it up.

Hello bonepicker. Thanks for the great link on silver cobs. The more I look a this thing it looks clipped and irregular in thickness as a cob should be according to your link. The weight is 25.4 grams which is bit under one ounce which is (what I think) a piece of eight should be...gotta get some more crud off it so I can see what we have.

Thanks for the reply and good luck. C9

 

[Mackaydon]

No doubt it being an 8R at that weight.
Don....

 

[pepperj]

Congrats on the find, can't wait to see it again cleaned up.

 

[ARC]

Wow... great hit.
That is a friggin killer one.
Which coast was it found ?
East west ?

 

[patiodadio]

Wow ! Great find ! Would it be reasonable to think where there is one there would be more ?

 

[thewatchers]

Awesome find. Can't wait to see the new pictures if you do decide to clean it up a little more.

 

[Loco-Digger]

Congrats on pulling that old silver. Looking forward to seeing the cleaned picture,

 

[oxbowbarefoot]

That's an awesome find! Glad you were able to save it

 

[oxbowbarefoot]

Gulf side or Atlantic side?

 

[bonepicker]

Hello bonepicker. Thanks for the great link on silver cobs. The more I look a this thing it looks clipped and irregular in thickness as a cob should be according to your link. The weight is 25.4 grams which is bit under one ounce which is (what I think) a piece of eight should be...gotta get some more crud off it so I can see what we have.

Thanks for the reply and good luck. C9

Thanks for responding. I forgot to mention, nice find . You lucky sob.
Ive hunted the beaches in MS several times, and have never found Spanish.... Just about given up on our local beaches.
If I were you I would get back out there, especially since we just had a lot of rain and some unusual high tides.
I would like to emphasize that right now you have a possible shipwreck cob, if you remove the crust you just have a cob.
If you do decide to clean it. I recommend spending a little time reading in the cleaning and preservation section of this forum.
I also forgot to mention the foil and baking soda method, which would probably be the least harsh technique.

#2, The tin foil method, while this seems to little all by itself there is definitely something going on here. Wet the coin, and tinfoil with a solution of baking soda, and water. wrap the coin shinny side of foil toward the coil, and press tight with your fingers or place it under something, the goal is to make contact, as in electrical. Leave a couple of minutes this way 2 to 3 is enough.

Here is the link I copy/ pasted from.
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/cleaning-preservation/407277-salt-water-silver-coins-cleaning.html

 

[Captain Caveman]

Congratz! Awesome find!

 

[vince76]

waiting to see it cleaned

 

[sutphin]

THATS THE REAL DEAL , NICE FIND ......