7/27/12 Report - Star of Mexico, Grading & Mystery Solved

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.



1622 -1634 Era Mexico Mint Half Reale Shown an ANS Magazine

  Star of Mexico.   You've probably heard of the Star of Lima cobs, but have you heard of the Star of Mexico cobs?  There isn't such a thing, you say!   Well, maybe not, but I was looking through one of the articles found on my treasure link list, and noticed this half reale with the Florenzada cross use by the Mexico mint on one side and some very nice little starts above the Philip monogram on the other side.  You can see one six pointed star directly above the P and the other above the S of the Philip monogram.

You can see the denomination (1/2) to the right of the monogram, part of the mint mark to the left of  the monogram and the bottom of the crown just above the left star.

This photo was published in the Winter 2006, Volume 5 Number 3 issue of the ANS Magazine in an article by Robert Hoge.  You can find this and other cobs discussed in that article by using the following link or by clicking on the second entry in my treasure link list.

http://ansmagazine.com/Winter06/Cabinet

There are so many variations of cobs, that I'm sure we'll always be seeing new ones.  This is the first time I've noticed those neat little stars on a Mexico minted cob.


Grading Cobs?  Somebody asked me if they should get the cob they plan to sell certified.  I think they might have actually meant graded/authenticated.  There are a lot of things to consider, but most cobs are not graded by a grading service.

Here is a link to an article that discusses some general things to be considered when deciding if you should have a particular coin graded.

http://coins.ha.com/common/contactus.php?ref=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.aol.com%2Faol%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dhow%2Bto%2Bget%2Bcoin%2Bcertified%26s_it%3Dtb50-ie-aolmail-ab-en-us&txtTopicID=30#answer

I can't really answer the question, but it appears to me that it is generally not worth having a cob graded/authenticated.   The market for cobs is different than that for rare US coins, where a small difference in grade makes a big difference in price.  A Certificate of Authenticity, when issued by a well known and reputable source, seems more valuable than grading when it comes to cobs.

If anyone wants to add to this or correct me, I'd like to hear from you.

Lid Like Yesterday's Mystery Item.

Mystery Solved.  The readers of this bog came through again.   Yesterday's mystery item was identified within hours of the picture being posted.

I thought it would be identified quickly because there was a lot of information on the lid.  It gave you something specific to go on.  The more difficult to identify mystery items don't provide much in the way of specific words to search.

Anyway a number of people came up with the same web site where the same lid, along with the bottle, was listed for sale.

Joan T.,  Walter M. and Jorge Y. identified the lid.  Thanks folks!


Here is where you can find a good photo plus more information on Dr. Sayman, the bottle and lid.

http://carolinabluelady.blogspot.com/2011/09/dr-sayman-and-his-traveling-medicine.html

The lid is tin and actually says DR. SAYMAN'S PRODUCTS ARE SUPREME, DR. SAYMAN, ST. LOUIS.

Dr. Sayman died in 1937.

The Carolina Blue Lady has nice blog where you can find information on vintage collectibles like this lid and bottle.

I have or once had a milk glass bottle like the one that goes with that lid, .  I'm not sure it is the same exact one, but it looked like that.  I didn't have the lid though. 

Thanks to all of you who did the research and sent me the information.  That is a big help to me, those who submit items for ID, and all who read this blog. 

Another mystery solved.


Treasure Coast Detecting Conditions

There has been no change in detecting conditions.   The wind is still from the West, and the seas are running flat.

Low tide in the morning will be just after 9:00 and around 9:45 in the evening.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net