Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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| Source: Sedwick Auction Listing. |
The Sedwick treasure auction went live yesterday and the action was hot and heavy. Most items sold within the range of the auction estimates, with some higher and a few lower.
It is always interesting to see the fine examples that bring high prices. It tells you what people most value and what treasure hunters can dream of finding. (See photo above and partial lot description below.)
USA, regulated $15, Joseph Edwards plug and countermark (Boston, ca. 1780) on a Lima, Peru, cob 8 escudos, 1741V, extremely rare, NGC XF 40, ex-Brown (Chapman, 1911). 26.46 grams. (see separate writeup) Pedigreed to the Julius L. Brown collection (S.H. Chapman auction of 1911, plated as lot 343).
Unique Lima 8 Escudos Cob Regulated by Joseph Edwards, Jr. to $15 U.S. Standard This coin bears several distinctions: So far, it is the earliest known genuine host for a regulated doubloon (see accompanying article, “The Regulated Gold Coinage of North America and the West Indies in the Late 1700s”); it is the only known regulated coin with the mark of Joseph Edwards, Jr.; and it is the only known non-imitation cob to be regulated to the $15 standard. Its weight is 26.46 grams = 408.34 grains = 17 pennyweight (dwt), which matches a value of $15 as established by the Bank of New York in 1784. Since a mint-fresh Lima cob 8 escudos typically weighs 27 grams (418 grains), it is evident the present coin was lightly shaved (visible in two places on the edge) and then plugged to bring the weight back up to meet the $15 standard. s can dream of finding.
The winning bid with buyers premium was over $152,000. That was the highest price of the day It was the highest priced coin by far for the day.
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| Source: Sedwick Auction Listing. |
Another big winner was this 88 pound Atocha silver bar from Potosi. The bid plus premium was just a couple dollars short of $57,000.
Here is the description for that one.
Large silver bar #902 from Potosi, 88 lb 3.84 oz troy, Class Factor 1.0, with markings of mine/date Po1621, manifest IUDCCCCIII (1903) and fineness IIUCCCL (2350/2400) followed by cartouche of assayer Mexia, one big owner/shipper mark and several tax stamps, from the Atocha (1622). 13-7/8" x 5" x 3-3/8". Very bold markings grace the top of this thick, somewhat compact ingot, particularly the manifest and owner/shipper monogram (J. Delgado and C. de Saravia), the fineness also bold and followed by a very clear assayer cartouche, the multiple tax stamps of two different designs also very clear, as are also the silvermaster V and diagonal slash in one corner with bold C inside, the typical assayer's "bite" prominent in the center; but best of all is the full and clear mine/date marking to the left of the manifest, qualifying this piece for the top grade of 1.0, with minimal surface corrosion and nice toning all over. From the Atocha (1622), with Fisher photo-certificate #85A-S902.
That silver bar brought in the second highest bid of the day, while two more large silver bars brought the third and forth highest bids.
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The next highest bids were achieved by a gold finger bar that cost $31,725 ( bid plus premium) and a silver pina ingot that cost $30,550.
For the bargain hunter was one lot of 100 one-reales and half-reales that sold for just over $3000 total including bid and premium (around $30 per cob) while two other lots of 100 one and half reales sold for just over $2500. That is one way to start a nice collection quickly and inexpensively.
As I've said before, auctions like this provide a lot of data for anyone interested in treasure coins and artifacts. There aren't many places where you can see more historical items.
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Yesterday I showed a small group of Buffalo nickels without dates. RinkRat sent me an email about a product that some people use to bring out otherwise unreadable dates on such coins. Here is what he said.
... you can often bring up old buffalo nickel dates with this product, which is basically a weak nitric acid solution (actually link below says its a ferric chloride solution):
https://www.mintproducts.com/nic-a-date-nickel-date-restorer.html (not endorsing these sites- it just came up on the search)
the enhanced date will eventually fade and subsequent use of nicadate will help less and less. but if its unreadable anyway, why not?
Thanks RinkRat!
I didn't know about that and looked into it a little and found that a ferro-chloride product is sold as Nic-A-Date. You put a drop on the area where you'd like to see more detail, wait about 60 seconds, and then wash it off with water. In many cases you will then be able to see the date or other details. Some coin shops sell it for about $8. It eats the metal a little so of course you don't want to use it on coins that may have some value, but according to what I've read, people do use it with satisfactory results.
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Expect a two to three foot surf for a few days and then a slight increase up to about three or four feet.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
