Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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| Inscriptions in Dug Beach Gold Band |
There is an inscription on the inside that I was wondering about. You can see it in the photo. It seems to read DIC 22/ 87.
The DIC could be a person's initials, I guess.
I don't know about the 22/. It is not 22 karat.
And the 87 could possibly be a year.
What do you think?
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You'll find a great research tool on the SedwickCoins web site. Go to the auction archives. You can browse through the old auction catalogs and also find the realized prices. If you want to inspect the pictures in the catalog in fine detail, download the particular catalog you want to look at. You can then see each of the lots in amazing detail.
There is a lot to study in all of those auction catalogs.
Just yesterday I noticed a 1714 Mexico 2-escudo in the most recently completed auction catalog that was in many ways similar to the one found by Grant of the Capitana. It was the only one of that mint, year and denomination. It sold for $2000.
Just for rough comparison, I went back to the 1977 Bowers and Ruddy auction catalog that I mentioned not long ago. It is an old hardcopy catalog and the photos are not nearly as nice or detailed as those you will find in the digital Sedwick catalogs. The binding is also starting to fall apart.
Anyhow, the old Bowers and Ruddy auction had a lot of listings, including 69 1714 Mexico 2-escudos. The highest price for those lots was $500 and the low price was $175. In other words, the most desirable examples brought about three times.
As I've mentioned before, 1977 dollars were worth about four times what 2017 dollars are worth, so that seems to be fairly close when these escudo prices are considered.
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Here is something I stumbled on while researching a found silver ingot. It was published on www.ebay.com. It was written in 2010, so I don't know if it is still accurate, but it raises some interesting issues anyhow.
Well, the way PayPal works, if your item is fake, (and for example, selling an ingot of .925 as .999 is regarded as fakery), then PayPal usually tell you to destroy it. Very occasionally, they may ask you to return it to them. But usually not. However, if they asked you to return it to the seller, they would be opening themselves up to aiding and abetting an offence and perpetuating a fraud, so you'll NEVER be asked to return a fake item to a seller.
So, after you have received your refund for the fake .999 ingot, you MUST destroy what might be a .925 ingot and confirm to PayPal that you have done so!
And what do you get for your £30 assay fee? Well, quite simply, the satisfaction of fighting fakers and counterfeiters by destroying a bar of silver.
And of course, with an ingot in your hands that nevertheless contains 92.5% of silver, that's exactly what you're going to do - ISN'T IT; you're going to destroy that bar, rather than refine it or sell it on with the certificate?
If nothing else this should remind you to remain alert to the possibility of items being sold on ebay and similar sites being fakes. Be very careful when buying on those kinds of sites.
I do know of one reale that was sold on ebay that was a fake and when the seller was informed, he simply refunded the payment and no return was necessary. You might have more trouble with other sellers.
I've sold some items on eBay - mostly books and bottles - and only had trouble with one buyer, and that one was from Italy. I easily sold the item again, so it was not a huge problem for me. Still I would be especially careful of foreign transactions and most especially China.
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There are no storms brewing in the Atlantic or Gulf. No change in beach conditions is expected real soon.
The year is speeding by.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
There are no storms brewing in the Atlantic or Gulf. No change in beach conditions is expected real soon.
The year is speeding by.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
