i am a complete novice at coin collecting. i have in my possession a coin that i am unable to identifiy. i have no idea how old this coin is, if it's legit - anything. i'll post a couple of shoddy photo's - the best i can do with substandard equipment... and i'll try to provide some additional detail from the coin: the coin appears to be silver? it's quite hard, but some of the surface features have been worn over time. side 1: around the edge on the top, it says D . G . H I S P A N around the edge on the bottom it says _ _ _ N D . R E X (some sort of symbol) P H L L I E on the center of the coin is a crest with four sections; the only two symbols i can somewhat identify are in the top right and bottom left quadrants and those being a monkey and a lion respectively. i may be wrong on the monkey but whatever it is it's got a long tail. to the left of the crest are two letters, one on top of the other: M F to the right of the crest is an odd looking symbol that resembles the number 6, but more like the shape of an 8. in other words, take a piece out of the 8 to make it a 6 and that's what it looks like. side 2: around the edge on the top, it says: V T A (some sort of symbol) _ Q U E then along the right side edge, V N U N along the bottom edge, it has the numbers 1 7 4 5 although the 5 is a little funny looking, more like an S than a 5. in the center is a picture. it has a sea for a base, two pillars rising up from either side with two spheres hovering above the water and in between the pillars. the spheres are shadowing one another, similar to the way the olympic circles slide over themselves. inside the spheres are unknown shapes. there is some sort of crown-looking object above the two spheres. along the edges of both top and bottom of the coin are small lines, not unlike modern day coins. but they aren't precise as a US Quarter would be. somewhat crude. the outer edge of the coin (the side) isn't exactly round either. its rough, with small cuts about every 1/8th of an inch. also noted is the width of the coin as it pertains to the edges. it varies in thickness ever so slightly. thanks for any insight. by the way, can someone let me in on how to post a pic to this? lol sad, isn't it? - mike
to CoinTalk mike. You almost certainly have a Spanish Colonial 8 Reale pillar dollar (the original "piece of eight"), but as these were produced in multiple mints in several countries, and in several varieties, I'm definitely not expert enough to ID it without a clear picture of both sides. Click here for picture posting instructions.
Go here and read the 4th post down.I believe it's probably your coin type...same year even. Here's the basic description http://www.coinsite.com/content/cdanswers/cdarchive53.asp PHILLIP.V.D.G.HISPAN.ET.IND.REX', crowned shield stamped on reverse 'VTRAQUE VNUM / 1745', two globes crowned between the pillars of Hercules....as Roy has indicated,probably 8 reales. Now you need to post those pics so our experts can pin it down and see if it's genuine.
Greetings and Welcome to the list. It sounds like a Spanish 8 Reale struck in the New World. Maybe you can post a picture? Take Care Ben
pics sounds like you guys nailed it... here's a couple of pics they may not be very clear, but the best i could do.
To be honest, it looks like a counterfeit cast copy. They are prevalent on eBay and turn up quite often on this forum as other new collectors (like yourself) have asked virtually the same question before on this forum. There's certainly nothing wrong in that as knowing if you have a valuable $200-$600 coin verses a $2.00 copy is good information to have. If you have a scale, try checking the weight. A genunie 8 reale should weigh around 26.5 grams. Take Care Ben
so the only way to authenticate it is to weigh it? my scale has dead batteries... go figure. any other clues to validate it? thanks for the help by the way! - mike
Well, another thing to check is if there are bubbles on the surface or not. Bubbles indicate it's been cast. Also the edge should be scalloped with the scalloping going 1/2 way around one direction and then the other 1/2 way it should be reversed. Here are some examples which may be close to yours. Just a simple google on '8 Reales' http://images.google.com/images?q="8+reales"&svnum=10&hl=en&safe=off&start=20&sa=N&ndsp=20 Take Care Ben
this is close ok this looks just like the coin i have, only mine says 1745 ok nevermind, that pic was too large. elaborate on the scalloping? do u mean the hash marks on the side of the coin or on the top/bottom? ok changed the size. this looks like my coin
The scalloping is on the rim. I don't have a picture but it should look liike a bunch of UUUUUUUUU's laid on their side of course.
