7/24/17 Report - Type 5 1714 Mexico Escudo: More Details. Assay and Sampling of Precious Metals Reference. Get Smart.

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

1714 Mexico Escudo.
Photo submitted by Captain Jonah Martinez.

If you've been following my posts, I first thought the the 2 escudo recently found by Grant of the Capitana was a 1714.  Then I noticed the two fleur de lis in the panel at the 4 or 5 o'clock position. The design shown in the Bowers and Ruddy catalog for 1715 coins showed two fleur de lis in that panel at the 4 or 5 o'clock position, but only one of the varieties for the 1714 Mexico escudos in the Bowers and Ruddy catalog showed two in the same location, I concluded that Grant's escudo might be a 1715 escudo.  There is also, however a 1714 variety that has two fleur de lis at that location, (See illustration below.) like the escudo shown above.

Type 5 1714 Mexico Escudo
Source: 1977 Bowers and Ruddy Auction Catalog

As you can see in the illustration, there are only two fleur de lis in the panel I've been discussing for the 1714 Mexico escudo (red arrow).  That differs from the variety I showed yesterday for the 1714, which had three at that part of the shield.

Captain Jonah sent me the photo of a clearly dated 1714 Mexico escudo (top of post) that shows two fleur de lis in the same field.  That escudo is similar but not exactly like the type five shown in the illustration.  There is no "o" above the "M" mint mark (blue arrow) on the type 5 illustration, but there is an "o" above the "M" on Jonah's coin..

 I can't see any other features that would in my mind definitely distinguish between the two dates.  Maybe someone else can.

Like I said many times before, I'm not an expert in numismatics, just an interested student.  I learned a little more by muddling around with this.  Hope you did too.

Thanks to Captain Jonah for sending such a great photo for study.

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While doing some research on one of my longer standing mystery items, a 10 gram silver ingot or whatever, I found a great reference book.  The book is The Sampling and Assay of the Precious Metals, by Ernest Smith, published 1913.  Click on the title if you want to take a look at the free ebook.

What I've read in that book makes me think that the 10 gram silver ingot or button probably has something to do with the assay process.

Below is a brief excerpt from the book just to give you the idea.

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Teresa T. sent in a link to a supplement that seems to be endorsed by famous people such as Stephen Hawking that is supposed to dramatically increase mental alertness and IQ.  I'm too old to get smart now, but here is the link.

http://mail.fashionmu.com

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I've been watching a fellow do some involved work and having a lot of trouble with it primarily due to poor planning and preparation.  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

You might consider detecting early or later to avoid the hot mid-day sun and afternoon thunder storms.

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We're still having a one to two foot surf on the Treasure Coast.  No change in sight.  The tides are big though.

There is no tropical activity of interest in the Atlantic or Gulf.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/22/17 Report - Dug Gold Band Inscriptions. 1714 Mexico Two-Escudos Over the Years. Fake Silver Ingots and Online Transactions.

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

Inscriptions in Dug Beach Gold Band

This small gold band was a beach find.  It fits almost exactly on the outside rim of a U. S. dime.

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

7/13/17 Report - 1715 Fleet Capitana Escudo Find. Wolf Gold Burial Hoard.

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

Illustration of 1714 Mexico Two-Escudo .
Source: Sewall Menzel's Book, Cob's, Pieces of Eight and Treasure Coins.

The two-escudo from the Menzel book shown above looks very much like the one found by Grant that I showed yesterday.

 The one found by Grant does not show the date or mint or assayer mark, however it does show some clues to those things.  It does show the denomination in roman numerals to the right of the shield.

The escudo I showed yesterday, like the one shown in the illustration above, seems to be a Mexico two-escudo, probably from 1714.  It is also similar to the one posted in my 5/24/16 post.

One of the biggest clues to the cob's date is the Bourbon crest which covers the lower-right castle and pomegranate.  I outlined the shield of Bourbon in the illustration below.

Shield of Bourbon Highlighted on Two-Escudo.

Here are a few interesting observations relative to such escudos.

In 1977, Bowers and Ruddy sold a very similar one for $250.  That was about the going rate back then.  The dollar was worth about four times more in 1977, so you might expect the value of a similar two-escudo today to be worth about $1000 if you just made a simple adjustment for inflation.  Of course, there are other factors that affect the market value.

I've seen similar two escudos running for just over $1000.   A similar two-escudo having the mint mark and date in excellent condition might be more like $2500 or $3500.  I'm just talking in very general terms.  You could look through Sedwick auction results and find a very comparable escudo for price comparison.  I didn't do that.

The melt value of the escudo, with today's gold prices, would be about $245, close to what the Bowers and Ruddy cob sold from in 1977 when the price of gold was just over $160 per ounce.

I'm not expert on cobs, so if anything I said here is wrong, let me know.

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Source: See reuters link below.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A sacrificial wolf elaborately adorned with some of the finest Aztec gold ever found and buried more than five centuries ago has come to light in the heart of downtown Mexico City, once home to the Aztec empire's holiest shrines...

Here is the link.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-archaeology-aztecs-idUSKBN19S1RA?feedType=RSS&virtualBrandChannel=11563

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There are no tropical depressions or storms in the Atlantic or Gulf.  We got the remains of old Tropical Depression Four yesterday, which resulted in a day of rain and some lightning.

The surf today on the Treasure Coast will be about two to four feet, and tomorrow, two to three feet.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net