🥇 BANNER Exceedingly rare Caribbean Countermarked Silver Coin Found (1 of 3 known)!

Devonrex

Sr. Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2012
Messages
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Golden Thread
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Location
SE Virginia
🥇 Banner finds
4
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS, Nautilus DMC IIB
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I've been fortunate during the month of March and been able to get out metal detecting at my new spot one day each week. In fact last week I was able to get out twice! This new area is close to where I found many French war buttons a few years back. In my last post I had finally dug a cuff 18 (Gatanois regiment) This was a number I had never dug before. Well last week I found myself my second one! This one was practically lying on TOP of the ground ....just under the leaves! It turned out to be a beautiful cuff 8 (Bearn regiment). Although I did find a coat 8 in 2012, I had never found a cuff 8!!! Not more than 10 inches from the cuff 8 I got another reading which turned out to be a solid silver knee buckle! The soil is almost 50 percent sand at this site so I could immediately see the WC and what looked like 2 lions stamped in the back. Other finds that day included a cuff eagle button, a couple of brass pieces to a Civil War shoulder scale, a brass very early, crude set of cufflinks and a small kepi buckle. Now to the the previous week. At the same spot I had barely turned onmy Nautilus DMC IIb when I dug a dropped Gardner, followed by a beautiful engraved brass keyhole to either a large chest or door. Now is when things get interesting. The only coin I had dug in this spot was a 1736 - 1795 Kao T'sung (Chien - Lung Dynasty) Chinese Coin. This was a strange find to dig here and the first I had ever found. Well, in the immediate area where I had dug my cuff 18, I started to move all the fallen logs out of the way. You don't realize how many good finds I have found over the years by doing this! Well not more that 8 feet from where the cuff 18 was found I got that good brassy two tone beep I love to hear! After digging down just 4 inches out popps a silver coin!!! Again because of the soil conditions I could immediately see a crown, the number 3, and another symbol counterstamped in the coin . The coin was also holed and from the design on the back I knew I had either a French, British, or Spanish coin (even though it was heavily worn). I can remember thinking "Could this be some sort of regimental Rev War ID tag?" I couldn't really detect anymore after finding this coin and I immediately went home. Once home I posted my finds on my Facebook page and not more than 5 minutes later my good friend and dealer Paul Chandler wrote what I wanted to hear. "You are correct! This is only the third Rev War regimental ID tag I have seen in 35years of dealing and digging! I was speechless. I have never found a Civil War ID tag after 30 years of digging and here I had just found a Rev War regimental ID tag! Well I immediately needed confirmation from Don Troini, the authority on Rev War artifacts. If you dig and ever find a rev war relic of importance he is the man to contact! I posted on his Facebook Rev War page and the discussion was intense! He, however, is unsure as to what this is. He did say the crown was not in the shape of a British crown so he didn't think it was British. Others said it was a bale seal or a coin weight. Well friends....... I've been digging, as I said for over 30 years, and I know whithout a shadow of a doubt this is no bale seal, or coin weight. Coin weights are always made out of brass...... and this was a silver coin at first ! And a silver bale seal ....HAHAHA. Now back to the silver knee buckle I just dug. After I got home I immediately posted this on facebook and within minutes another friend sent me a link to early 1700's British silversmiths. This link is a wealth of knowledge. All the initials of British silversmiths were shown. Listed clearly was the silversmith WC. William Cripps .....circa 1757!!! Also shown were all the other marks associated with early British silver smiths. Suddenly I knew what the mark below the 3 was on my counterstamped coin. It is a assay mark OR Towne mark showing purity of silver and is associated with a town or city in a country such as Britain or France! I am going to send some pictures of the tag over the internet to some people over in England and see if they can help me decipher what mark this is........ I still feel this could be a Rev War soldiers regimental tag. Whether it is British of French or Hessian ........ I don not know. What I do know is it is DEFINITELY NOT a bale seal or coin weight. If I had an authority on early world silver coins, they could also probably tell me based on the reverse of the coin what country the coin is from and what dates. You can bet I will be metal detecting at this site again soon!!! HH Devonrex
 

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Last edited:
Upvote 41
Banner! My vote is in
 

Great find on your part.

Regards + HH

Bill
 

This coin has Banner written all over it.
 

Fantastic find with history surrounding it. That counter stamp is a nice deep strike and looks great.
Thankyou Scrappy!!! I hunt for relics so this IS a surprise! HH Devonrex
rex
 

That is awesome that coin would sit for all those years since it was dropped for you to find. I would keep hunting that spot Wow Im happy to see people like yourself find these great finds this is what it is all about. My turn next!!!! Good Job
 

How deep was it? Tell us a little more about the hunt!

Fantastic find!
 

How deep was it? Tell us a little more about the hunt! Thanks G. I. B.

Fantastic find!
Thanks G. I. B!!! Hit the previous link, Possible Revolutionary War Regimental ID tag and a couple of French buttons and MORE, and everything you want to know is there. HH Devonrex
 

Phenomenal!!!!! So glad someone can appreciate it's historical significance!!! BANNER!
 

Banner. Epic save.
 

This is why I love being part of this forum . There are very few days here that I don't learn something about our history . To have found only the third of anything known to exist is amazing but the story of what it is makes it over the top . Vote is in
 

WOW! That is incredible! Banner vote is in!
 

Can't let this one die. So many people who are interested in early coins are probably missing a very good find because of the title. I think it should be posted again, just the coin, and a link to this thread.

IRON Patch I can do that but I don't want to get anyone upset! Devonrex


never repost a second thread in Today's finds.
just to update an old thread.this is today's Finds not Today's Posts.

Threads merged :(

that said what have you's decided it is called ?
is it a 3 Stuivers, or just a silver Caribbean coin ?
 

Last edited:
never repost a second thread in Today's finds.
just to update an old thread.this is today's Finds not Today's Posts.

Threads merged :(

that said what have you's decided it is called ?
is it a 3 Stuivers, or just a silver Caribbean coin ?
Jeff, I kind of had that notion but I thought with the proper identification it would get more attention (which it did). I did not mean to upset anyone as I said earlier in this thread. I honestly don't know anything more than what the people here at Treasurenet have already posted.................I thought it was a regimental Rev War ID badge! All I know is it is a Bahammian countermarked Spanish silver coin (the size of a one real) and that it is exceedingly rare. As the auction results show it is now 1 of a few known (at that time in 1990 the total known was 2). I am a relic hunter and not a coin collector so all of this is new to me. I need to ask everyone what they think should be the next steps I take with this coin? Anyway, I liked the title I listed the second go around. It sure did gain a tremendous amount of hits! (over 1000 that way! ) HH Devonrex
 

Jeff, I kind of had that notion but I thought with the proper identification it would get more attention (which it did). I did not mean to upset anyone as I said earlier in this thread. I honestly don't know anything more than what the people here at Treasurenet have already posted.................I thought it was a regimental Rev War ID badge! All I know is it is a Bahammian countermarked Spanish silver coin (the size of a one real) and that it is exceedingly rare. As the auction results show it is now 1 of a few known (at that time in 1990 the total known was 2). I am a relic hunter and not a coin collector so all of this is new to me. I need to ask everyone what they think should be the next steps I take with this coin? Anyway, I liked the title I listed the second go around. It sure did gain a tremendous amount of hits! (over 1000 that way! ) HH Devonrex

next time request a title change & Just update the original thread :unhappysmiley:
it saves searching around for puzzle pieces :tongue3:
 

Feel free to blame me! :angel4:
 

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