I bought this yesterday at a garage sale in the city. I probably wasted my six dollars but on the bright side the guy was asking $25. Does anyone know what it is?:stooge:
You could Google "1800 carolus IIII dei gratia" and do some reading... or use the CT search function and read older threads like this Carolus IIII for starters...
This is a Spanish-Mexican 8 Reales. The bust on the obverse is of Charles IV. The M with the little "o" above it, located at about 8 o'clock, tells us that it was made at the Mexico City mint. In the United States these coins were legal tender up until the Civil War period. or you can do what krispy suggested and look into it a little more via google; I suggest that method so you can do a little more in depth learning on this subject. It's an interesting piece. The expression "2 Bits" which is sometimes used as meaning a "quarter dollar" came from this coin. But i'm not telling you anything you couldn't simply learn from google. I'd say the coin would be worth ~15$. That's my input.
I am having a hard time deciding whether those are chopmarks or graffiti? They look like they have been "cut" into the coin and don't look like have been punched by a stamp? Either way, great coin and a great deal.
Most of the marks look like typical chops from the later years of that activity in China. Some other marks don't look like much other than damage.
I ws thinking the same thing, I couldn't figure out if that was just some sort of damage, but then some of the damage looks more "organized" into a design, like it was stamped... would need to see it in hand hard from scans.
They look like real chops and if the piece is authentic it is worth more than $6 just in silver bullion alone.
The chop right above the date and the one on his neck look familiar...the rest of those marks, well I just don't know. At $6 you can't really go wrong though...cool find. All I ever see at garage sales are beanie babies and cabbage patch dolls. Happy Collecting
I was also wondering about the apparant seam...and the hole above the right column on reverse looks almost like a gas bubble that popped and the reverse legend looks a bit mushy..maybe cast... but I am by no means an expert just opinion.
There are a couple of things that bother me about the coin. One is the closing loops on the 0s and the 8. They are extremely exaggerated from known genuine examples. Another is the 8 petaled floret above the date, that most definitely should not be there. (see pic below) While forets were sometimes used as stops on Spanish colonial coinage at the various mints, they were typically 6 petaled florets, not 8. And they had very specific placements. None of those placements would be in this location. It is the distance from the rim that gives it away. Also, these florets were used much earlier and I know of none of the top of my head that were used in this series. They were all on the Pillar & Waves series. It also looks like the coin has either a re-cut date, or a re-punched date. I'm not at home where I can get to my books right now to confirm it, but I don't recall any RPDs for this coin. Anyway, for the reasons stated I am suspicious of the coin. peanut - can you get this coin weighed ? Take it to a jewelry store and they can do it for you. You need the weight in this form - xx.xx grams. That would also help confirm if it is genuine or not.
The floret above the date is an applied chop mark, it represents a fan. I have seen this before on Trade Dollars.
How is that possible, to be under the number date? I see where the 1 has been relocated, but there lots of little marks and indents on this coin that just don't add up or belong as far as merchant/assay office marks. Yes, the weight may or may not yield a definitive answer. Even a contemporary fake is worth more than 6 bucks!
That's my point, there most definitely are things that don't add up. The value is immaterial. I think I know what has happened here, but at best it's an educated guess. I suspect the coin is a Chinese counterfeit. But I also suspect that it first started out as an entirely different coin - one with an 8 petaled floret on it. Then either they realized that the 8 petals were wrong (should be 6) or that it was positioned incorrectly, and then over-struck 1 fake with a new fake. Then they added chop marks, and even some damage, to make it look authentic. But like I said, just an educated guess. The weight, if incorrect would add "weight" to my guess. And yes, pun intended