12/5/12 Report - Eight-Reale Found

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

8-reale Find and Photo by Jonah M.

 Here is a nice eight -reale found by Jonah M. three weeks after Sandy.  It isn't unusual to pick up a few cobs that long after a storm.

Really nice find.  Congratulations Jonah!

And great photos too.

You can easily see from the Florenza cross that the cob was minted in Mexico.  If you spend some time researching it, you could probably narrow down the date by looking to match up the distinctive style of castle and lions.  If I have some spare time I might do that, or better yet, maybe one of you can do that for me.

Other Side Same Cob

Unfortunately the date and assayer mark aren't visible, but you can clearly see the Bourbon crest in the center, which suggests it is a Philip V, dated 1702 or later.  I'd guess 1702 - 1715.

I haven't spent much time on it yet, but the castle and lions do pretty well match some other cobs from that proposed time period.

I'd guess the marks would be OMJ, with the J indicating Jose Eustaquio de Leon y Losa as the assayer.

If I'm wrong about any of that let me know.

Notice the sharp corner on the top right of the cob in the second photo.  That is a common feature.  They were often so sharp that they tore the bags they were carried in.  As a result sharp corners were often blunted or bent so that wouldn't happen.

Don't give up too soon after a storm.  Sometimes some left-overs pop up weeks later.




Photo of Peat Submitted by Joan T.

The other day I was talking about peat.  I didn't have a photo at the time so Joan T. sent in a photo of a lump of peat that she saw on the beach.  You can see it below.

I've saw some very large chunks in the past few weeks.  Anyhow, now you'll know what they are.  It is actually a good sign to see those appear on the beach.





See inside a Maya tomb painted with shades of red and containing artifacts.

Here is that link.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/11/pictures/121130-maya-tombs-kings-mexico-archaeology-science/?source=hp_dl4_news_maya_tomb_found20121203


The wind has been switching around by the surf has remained at about 3 - 5 feet.   I took a quick look yesterday and the beach didn't look very promising at all.  Pretty sandy and mushy where I was.  The water isn't getting up as high now either.

On the other hand, the low tides are finally starting to back out a little.  I've been waiting for that for  a couple of months.

The surf will decrease just a touch tomorrow.   The low tide this afternoon will be about 6:30 PM.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net