I suspect most of what is on this old Spanish coin's holder is either vague or wrong.

Spain: "New World Pirate Era Bronze Nummis c.1400-1600 AD" [sic], in "International Numismatic Bureau" holder


This was a cheap coin shop pickup. It is in an "International Numismatic Bureau" holder. I believe they were (or are) one of those slightly shady boiler-room outfits which sold (maybe still sell) overgraded coins in their own self-made slabs, and they also mass-marketed cheap historic coins like this to the general public, playing up the more colorful aspects like the "pirate era" angle here.

Some of the deposits from the coin left a residue on the inside of the plastic holder, since it rattles around loosely in there. In any event, the holder is not sealed and can be easily opened. Really, it's trash, but I've kept it on the off chance the next owner wants it.

Let's unpack the description on that label a bit. Now mind you, I only have my suspicions- since I do not personally know the exact attribution on this piece, I'm merely left with hunches. Maybe some of you can assist.

I will say that I do not doubt the coin's authenticity. But... the rest? Well...

SPAIN. OK, I am pretty certain they got that part right. We've got the lion and castle there.
NEW WORLD. I'm not so sure about that. I think maybe this could be from homeland Spain rather than a New World mint?
PIRATE ERA. That's a rather nebulous and meaningless phrase, but OK, sure. There was pirate activity in the era this coin circulated. Just as there has been since the dawn of history. But yeah, sure, they were really active in the Atlantic during those centuries.
BRONZE. I think it's more likely copper than bronze, but maybe they're right. I don't know.
NUMMIS [sic]. This is just a generic Latin term for "coin". I'm more used to seeing it spelled "nummus", with no "i", but then again, it is the root word for "numismatics", so that may be where the "i" crept in. Their variant spelling might be OK. But more specifically, I am pretty sure this coin is one of the maravedis denominations. 2-maravedis? 4-? I don't know. (Update: it's a 4-maravedis piece. @John Conduitt pointed out that "IIII" to the right of the castle, which I had missed.)
c. 1400-1600 AD. They could be right- there are some 1500s maravedis which look like this. But to me it looks later. Like 1600s. Not the year 1600 specifically, but from the 1600s in general. So maybe a bit later than the date range they indicate?
HIGH GRADE. Meh. Whatever. It does have pretty good detail, evidence of cleaning (it likely came from a bulk hoard), and some chalky greenish deposits on it. It isn't awful. "High grade" is another rather nebulous term.
















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Thanks. Yep. The trouble is, there are zillions of varieties of very similar looking "lion and castle" copper "cob" coins from the 16th and 17th centuries. I do not have enough specialized knowledge to distinguish them.

 

It's not so much that I did any research as the fact that I've been a collector for 44 years, so I've crossed paths with plenty of stuff. Enough to have a fairly well-rounded general knowledge, but not particularly specialized or deep.

So I know what a Spanish coin of this era is supposed to look like, and I know a few things about them- heck, I've even dug some, while out detecting- but I don't have to go very far down the variety attribution rabbit hole on this kind of stuff before I'm well in over my head.

The word "cob" supposedly comes from the Spanish "cabo de barra", or "end of the bar". Those roughly cut planchets were cut off bars, hence the irregular shapes. Or so the possibly-apocryphal tale has it. That might be suspect as well.* I'm sure Sedwick would know, but I don't want to bother him over such a trifle.

It really doesn't matter so much, over a coin I paid ten bucks for and intend to give away. I'm just mildly curious, is all.

 

I posted an earlier 2-maravedis of Ferdinand & Isabella last night.

 

Thanks. I missed the "IIII" Roman numeral there.

And there's clearly a PH there, so yep, one of the Philips.

 

I'd send the pics to Dan if I were you, could be an interesting story that goes along this coin, assuming he can pin it down a bit. For instance, in the Spanish colonial mints copper was only minted for local use. Problem was, only the Spanish garrison would or could use the coins as the indigenous population flat out refused to accept them - they would only accept silver. This was largely because in the beginning when the indigenous population first got to know the Spanish, copper was disdained, cast aside as trash by the Spanish themselves, who were only interested items of gold or silver owned by the local populace. So the locals adopted this attitude towards copper as well. And when the Spanish minted copper coins for use in local commerce, the locals just wouldn't accept them as they felt like the Spaniards were trying to cheat them by giving them trash coins.

As a result, very few copper coins were ever minted in the Spanish colonial mints for the most part. So, having a bit of info about that coin, assuming it can be obtained, could make it a bit more interesting as a collectible. And even the less than desirable holder adds a bit to that aspect of it.