Information Please?

[romeo-1]

Can anyone tell me anything about this cob from this picture? Dug it this evening. It's well worn but there is a visible 63 on the reverse. Thanks for the input.

 

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[Diver_Down]

Obviously, Potosi mint. Unusually round planchet. I see a 3. Where is the "63"? Pictures of the other side?

Based on the scale of your fingers, it is most likely a 1 Reale. If it is '63 (1663), then the assayer will be Anotonio de Ergueta. In 1763, there were dual assayers. They produced a cruder style that doesn't match up with yours.

 

[romeo-1]

Better pics...including the other side!

 

[Diver_Down]

Just as I suspected, 1663 1R P-E.

 

[romeo-1]

Weight is 1.5 grams so I guess that would make it a half reale?

 

[Diver_Down]

Weight is 1.5 grams so I guess that would make it a half reale?

Weight would indicate a half reale, but the design does not. The design elements are consistent for 1, 2, 4 and 8 reales. The half reale has a unique design incorporating the monogram of the King. With the worn design, it could account for the loss of weight for a 1 reale.

 

[romeo-1]

Weight would indicate a half reale, but the design does not. The design elements are consistent for 1, 2, 4 and 8 reales. The half reale has a unique design incorporating the monogram of the King. With the worn design, it could account for the loss of weight for a 1 reale.

Interesting...any chance it's an error coin? Knowing nothing about cobs I don't know how likely that is.

 

[Diver_Down]

Interesting...any chance it's an error coin? Knowing nothing about cobs I don't know how likely that is.

Zero chance it is an error - not under Ergueta's watch. He was witness to the great Potosi Mint scandal in which mint workers paid with their lives trying to defraud the King. It was under his watch that the Transitional cobs were designed and Post-Transition cobs. It was under his watch that re-established the legitimacy of Spanish coinage.

Heavily worn. I noted the unusual round planchet - perhaps it had been "shaved". It was a known practice even with American coinage where coinage would be placed in a burlap sack and repeatedly thrashed in an effort to create shavings and scraps from the coinage.

 

[romeo-1]

Thanks for the history lesson!

Zero chance it is an error - not under Ergueta's watch. He was witness to the great Potosi Mint scandal in which mint workers paid with their lives trying to defraud the King. It was under his watch that the Transitional cobs were designed and Post-Transition cobs. It was under his watch that re-established the legitimacy of Spanish coinage.

Heavily worn. I noted the unusual round planchet - perhaps it had been "shaved". It was a known practice even with American coinage where coinage would be placed in a burlap sack and repeatedly thrashed in an effort to create shavings and scraps from the coinage.