Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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| Mexican Half Reale With Mint Mark. |
Yesterday I showed a very small half reale. Here is one that is closer to normal size. It was found during the same November 2013 hunt as the small one.
If you look closely at this one, you will see the mint mark and assayer initial. Just to the left of the bottom half of the big P is the M mint mark over the assayer initial of P. This is not the most common assayer initial for the 1715 Fleet. More common would be the OMJ mark, which I showed some examples of in the past few weeks.
This cob does not show a date,but we can narrow it down to somewhere between 1634 to 1665, when this assayer initial was used. It would have been minted during the reign of Philip IV.
According to Sewall Menzell, "Assayer P worked as a lieutenant for Sebastian Carrillo Madonado and possibly others." The name of assayer P is unknown.
Here is the basic design of the monogram during this time.
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| Source: Sewall Menzel's Cobs, Pieces of Eight and Treasure Coins. |
You can also narrow down the date of a half reale from the monogram.
This particular cob gives a good view of much of the monogram but the crown is missing.
Here is the other side of the same cob.
A good part of this side is covered with a thin encrustation.
I'll show another half reale with nice monogram from the same hunt as well as a one reale in the near future.
That is the second of four cobs found during a November 2013 hunt.
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I've started thinking about patina's and how they can be classified. So far it seems to me that useful descriptions would include color, thickness, coverage, and coarseness or consistency.
The two sides of a coin can have very different types of patina. I believe that happens when the coin remains in place for a long time in the same position.
When I get a system of classification developed, then it might be possible to correlate the patina with some variables about a coin's composition and history. I already believe that I can tell a little about where a coin has been from it's patina.
Some coins are covered by a very hard thin layer such as that seen on the left side of the above cob, others are covered by a crust composed of pieces of shell or sand. The cob above has a few of those.
I'd like to hear what you might add to the classification scheme.
Here are two coins with different color patinas.
And here is a thick patina composed of coarse sand and shell.
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Chris is now gone and what is left of Beryl is out in the Atlantic up by North Carolina.
On the Treasure Coast we'll have a one to two foot surf for a few days.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
Here is the other side of the same cob.
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| Other Side of Same Mexican Half Reale. |
I'll show another half reale with nice monogram from the same hunt as well as a one reale in the near future.
That is the second of four cobs found during a November 2013 hunt.
---
I've started thinking about patina's and how they can be classified. So far it seems to me that useful descriptions would include color, thickness, coverage, and coarseness or consistency.
The two sides of a coin can have very different types of patina. I believe that happens when the coin remains in place for a long time in the same position.
When I get a system of classification developed, then it might be possible to correlate the patina with some variables about a coin's composition and history. I already believe that I can tell a little about where a coin has been from it's patina.
Some coins are covered by a very hard thin layer such as that seen on the left side of the above cob, others are covered by a crust composed of pieces of shell or sand. The cob above has a few of those.
I'd like to hear what you might add to the classification scheme.
Here are two coins with different color patinas.
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| Patinas of Different Colors. |
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| Thickly Encrusted Coin. |
Chris is now gone and what is left of Beryl is out in the Atlantic up by North Carolina.
On the Treasure Coast we'll have a one to two foot surf for a few days.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
