Spanish Silver!!

JeffInMass

Silver Member
Jan 14, 2006
4,726
7,183
Cape Cod
Detector(s) used
Minelab Manticore, Minelab Equinox 600, Minelab Explorer SE Pro, Explorer XS, Fisher CZ6A
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Taking advantage of this incredible weather here in Mass, my hunting partner Mike and I took a trip to Rhode Island to hunt a ball field in the middle of an old area of town. On the way there, Mike was telling me that he had yet to find a silver quarter or half with his new Minelab, and was hoping to snag one of those babies today. When we arrived, you could tell the ball field had been filled- grass was far too long, green and thick, but the perimeter was short and brown, so we focused on those areas.

After about an hour or so, Mike called me over to see a find, and I could tell by his expression that he had something special. I sprinted over and fully expected him to hand me an old big silver, which he did! A beautiful 2 Reale! His first and it's in such incredible shape. Only negative is the date area on the obverse and corresponding area on the reverse is worn almost flat, showing only the last 7 of the date.

We were both on cloud 9 the rest of the hunt. A while later, I got what sounded like yet another wheat penny, but turned out to be a mini-spill of 4 wheats and a nice 1931 Merc. Neither of us scored another keeper the rest of our time there.

Another thing we noticed when we walked into the field was this beautiful old house about 50 yards away. While I was hunting near a wall in that direction, a man, who turned out to be the owner of that house, came over, introduced himself and asked if we'd had any luck. I told him about Mike's coin, and he immediately told me that we were welcome to hunt his house, just not today- his wife was doing yardwork and preferred we not do it then. And he also told me he has a friend who owns an early 1800's house not far away that he's sure we'll be able to hunt.

So the day turned out quite awesome, with Mike's 2 Reale and 2 possible great sites for down the road!

Enjoy the great weather while it lasts and HH all!

-- Jeff --
 

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Upvote 17
Great looking coins. Its an extra nice hunt when you can find something & line up more places to look .
 

That's a great day indeed! Beautiful Spanish and new sites coming to you....awesome
 

I love that you found something so unexpected. Those are always the most exciting. Once I found an 1802 LC in a WW2 base area, which I found later on to be atop a colonial trail.

Congrats to you and your buddy.
 

Nice condition on the silver, just too bad the date end is worn off. I find that odd, any reason as to how or why it would be that worn only at that spot? I know they are very thin coins and often found as near "slicks" but the relief throughout the coin is high.
 

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assayer initials may tell you the date. my 1781 1R carolus IIII was assayer F.F.. nice digs
 

Thank you Ahab! BTW, I can appreciate your Pine Tree Shilling experience- check this out if you hadn't seen it- several years back--

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/today-s-finds/77170-find-my-lifetime-you-ready.html

Jeff
I checked this out the other day. What a memorable and thrilling experience it is indeed. I dream of having a few pieces of Mass silver in my collection by the end of this wild ride. Might as well set your goals high right? :-) I'm sure you will remember every moment of that experience for the rest of your life. I was in absolute shock when I saw that outline through the dirt. Then the cob came out and my poor little heart almost stopped. What did you end up doing with yours? If you don't mind me asking
 

PS to previous: In the reverse legend the 'crunched' (my word) monogram 'LIMAE' is the mintmark indicating the coin was produced at the mint in Lima, Peru. The J and the P are the initials of the assayers, Juan Martínez de Roxas and Pablo Cano Melgarejo who worked together from 1803-1823.
Don...
 

I checked this out the other day. What a memorable and thrilling experience it is indeed. I dream of having a few pieces of Mass silver in my collection by the end of this wild ride. Might as well set your goals high right? :-) I'm sure you will remember every moment of that experience for the rest of your life. I was in absolute shock when I saw that outline through the dirt. Then the cob came out and my poor little heart almost stopped. What did you end up doing with yours? If you don't mind me asking

Before hunting the property, the homeowner and I agreed that any significant find would be sold and split- how could I ever imagine I'd find a shilling?? It was difficult to do, but I am a man of my word- I got it authenticated and Heritage Auction Galleries sold it. At least I had it for a while! God willing, I'll get to keep the next one!!
 

Before hunting the property, the homeowner and I agreed that any significant find would be sold and split- how could I ever imagine I'd find a shilling?? It was difficult to do, but I am a man of my word- I got it authenticated and Heritage Auction Galleries sold it. At least I had it for a while! God willing, I'll get to keep the next one!!

As a man all we have in this world is our word! When you strip everything else away you're either an honest solid person who does the right thing or you're somebody who's sneaky and selfish and tries to deceive. You did the right thing and I hope you find another some day. Being able to look yourself in the morrow every day and feel good is worth a hell of a lot more than a few hundred dollar or a coin in a case.... even a Mass silver :-)
 

Great find! I've found 3 half reals here in RI (2 were on baseball fields), but a 2 reale is a rare find indeed!
 

Great find! I've found 3 half reals here in RI (2 were on baseball fields), but a 2 reale is a rare find indeed!

Love your lyrics Mr. Saturday Night Special! I grew up listening to One More From the Road and Free Bird as loud as my stereo could play it! Oh won't you fly.......
 

Yup, when it comes to music, I'm stuck in the 1970's! I still go and see Skynyrd every year. Never got to see the original lineup, though. What song is it you wanna hear? FREE BIRD!
 

Wow awesome finds. Thanks for sharing and congrats on the amazing success.
 

Very nice, awesome condition too :icon_thumright:
 

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