11/6/12 Report - $10,000 Eight Reale & Copper Sheathing

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

Lot Number 1023 in the Recently Concluded SedwickCoins Auction

With Sandy and everything I didn't pay as much attention to the most recently concluded Sedwick Coins auction.   There are some interesting things you can learn from the auction now that I get around to it.

I noticed this Potosi 8-reale that sold for $10,000.  But more interesting is the information in the item description.

Here is the link to that item in the Sedwick auction.


http://auction.sedwickcoins.com/Potosi-Bolivia-cob-8-reales-Philip-II-assayer-R-Rincon-extremely-rare-first-dollar-of-Potos_i14157221

And here is what the item description says.


Potosi, Bolivia, cob 8 reales, Philip II, assayer R (Rincon), extremely rare first "dollar" of Potosi. S-P1; KM-5.1; CT-142. 27.0 grams. The most desirable coins of each of the main colonial mints are its first 8 reales, all very rare, and all with the same assayer-mark R for Rincon (starting with Francisco in Mexico and continuing with his brother Alonso in Lima and Potosi. The Mexican is the rarest, represented by just 3 specimens, all from one shipwreck, the best of which sold at auction a few years ago for about $374,000. The Lima specimens are next, about 7-10 known, the best of which sold at auction decades ago for about $132,000. A not-so-distant third is Potosi, with about 10-15 specimens known, the best of which sold at auction decades ago for about $25,000. Since then, the number of Potosi cob collectors has increased, and we can think of several advanced Potosi 8R collectors whose collections lack only the first issue of Rincon. While the present specimen is doubled on both sides, with a weak spot in both centers, the fact is that it is still well detailed, with much bold legend and shield and crown, also cross-lions-castles with distinctive tressure, and well centered, no worse than AVF, with contrasting toning on fields...

That is some good information.

Another Potosi 8-reale that sold shortly after this $10,000 example, sold for just $90.  Part of that was due to condition.  The $90 8-reale simply wasn't nearly as nice.  But that did not account for the entire difference.

As with every type of collectible, condition and rarity are very important in determining the price.

Piece of Copper Recently Found on Treasure Coast Beach
Photo by Joan T.

I mentioned the other day that there were a lot of shells on some beaches and that it is a good time to do some eye-balling for targets around shell piles.  Proving my point, Joan T. found this piece of copper sheathing and said she saw a lot of shells.  Keep an eye open for non-metallic items.

Copper sheathing was used to protect the hull of ships starting in the late 1750s.   Some pieces of copper sheathing show square nail holes.  Of course copper was used for a variety of purposes.

Here is a link to an article about copper sheathing on wooden hulls.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_sheathingck


They are predicting a northeaster for the northeast.   Not what they need after Sandy.  I guess it is forming in the Gulf, will cross over into the Atlantic well north of us and then up the coast.  The rough side of that will be to the north of us.

Today we have a one-foot surf.  Nice and calm  Still a couple days left to check out the beach fronts.

Late Thursday and early Friday the swells will pick up to four to six feet. 

Low tide this eventing will be around 7 PM.


The blog poll seems to be progressing well.  The responses so far have seemed very consistent from the beginning.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net