"Follow The Leader" coin thread BY THEME (for ALL types of coins, tokens, and medals)

Copper.





Transcript of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution article from February 25, 1999:
(Since the scan may be hard to read)

SPANISH COIN GIVES CLUE TO STATE'S PAST
St. Simons Island-- Robertson Shinnick has found a tiny piece of Georgia's past-- lost for more than 300 years. Searching the ground on this resort isle with a metal detector last fall, the 33-year-old coin collector dug a foot into the black soil and found an odd-shaped coin. "I had in my hand a small, squarish piece of copper with a strange design on it," Shinnick said. "I knew the Spanish colonial mints struck millions of silver coins, but this was obviously copper. "It was a mystery until I identified the design as the monogram of Philip IV of Spain, who reigned from 1621 to 1665." Turns out the four-maraved coin, a low-value sort of penny of its era, had been hand-forged in Spain about 1658. It isn't particularly dear to collectors-- it's worth about $65-- but it's valuable to Georgia historians. John Worth, director of programs for the Calhoun-based Coosawattee Foundation and one of the top experts on 17th century Spanish missions along the Georgia coast, calls the coin "quite a find." He says Shinnick's coin gives a clue about the long-lost mission of Santo Domingo de Asajo, built in 1595 to convert Native Americans to Christianity. It was destroyed by English-backed slave traders in 1661, rebuilt a year later, then burned by British pirates in 1684. "There were about 30 men, women and children, and friars, but no soldiers. A small garrison of soldiers was located on nearby St. Catherine's Island," Worth says. Other traces of the early Spanish period, such as olive jars and pottery shards, have been found on St. Simons, says Worth, who's done extensive studies on the island. But coins such as the one Shinnick found are rare along the Georgia coast. Shinnick's may be the first found on St. Simons. "Its significance is in our common state heritage," Worth says. "It is a bit of actual, concrete evidence of the Spanish missions, right here in Georgia." Shinnick, a bellman at the King and Prince Resort, found the coin on private land at Hampton Point, where million-dollar mansions are being built. One side of the time-blackened coin shows the royal monogram of Philip IV and a Roman numeral for the denomination. The other shows the letters "RX" _ for "rex," or "king," according to Worth. "Because the friars couldn't touch coins, my best guess is it was dropped by a passing soldier or an Indian," says Worth, whose Coosawattee Foundation aims to protect former Native American sites in the Southeast. "It's just a good history lesson from an era that's been lost."​

My personal writeup of this one can be found here.

Next, how about treasure coins from buried hoards, detector finds, or shipwreck pieces. Even coin roll hunting or CoinStar finds will do, since "treasure" comes in many forms.

 

Cool. I just got an Admiral Gardner shipwreck-pedigreed piece like that (inside a little Blanchard's booklet) with a bulk lot. @Mark Metzger has some of my bulk stuff to shoot pictures. It was the first one I've seen in a while. They used to be everywhere, like the El Cazador shipwreck Spanish silver pieces are nowadays.

 

@Mark Metzger- thanks!

@Pickin and Grinin - I like the contrasting toning on the reverse of that El Cazador piece. That's nicer than the norm. Most are pretty corroded, as you know.

Treasure coin, continuing the same theme... one that's dear to my heart.

Edit: Hm, the video clip was supposed to start at around 5:30 but if it starts from the beginning you can fast forward. Or watch the whole thing, if you've got too much time on your hands. LOL

There were three "keeper" coins found in this (long) movie of mine, actually, out of ten targets dug in the outing.



Continue with more of YOUR treasure coins.

 

Philippines.

Let's stick with Phil-American issues for the theme.

 

They're awesome. I like the Manila-minted coins, too, because it's fun to see a "US" coin with an "M" mintmark.

 

(If you will permit a personal anecdote with a tiny numismatic tie-in)

Look at the designer's initials below the arms on that 1967 Tongan Pa'anga.



See the "D B" there? Those are the initials of the designer, Dudley Moore Blakely (1902-1982), who was a friend of my family. He and his wife Elsa ("Judy") were originally from England, I believe.



Mr. Blakely, a sculptor and gifted artist, designed Tonga's first coins in the early 1960s. In the summer of 1979, my parents arranged for me to learn wood carving from him, as he had his sculptor's workshop attached to his house here on St. Simons Island, Georgia. (Unfortunately, I did not prove an especially adept student at the craft, but I did carve a heraldic eagle plaque that my mother still has.)

It was a wonderful house, full of mementos from the Blakelys' world travels, and the decor had a particularly Polynesian feel. Instead of carpeting in their living room, for instance, they had grass mats. The walls were covered with Mr. Blakely's large paintings of Pacific island scenes.

I was only 13 at the time, so the history and culture of a lot of the things I was seeing there were lost on me, but I was already collecting coins, and Mr. Blakely not only showed me the original models for the dies of Tonga's first gold coins, but a proof set of the very first strikes!

He died suddenly and unexpectedly in 1982 and is buried here on St. Simons Island. His wife Elsa ("Judy") ended up in a nursing home; she died in 1988 and is buried next to him. The person who had power of attorney over their estate sold their house and its contents, so somebody today owns Dudley Moore Blakely's personal proof set containing the very first strikes of the first Tongan gold coins (Tonga's first coins, period), and likely doesn't even know it came from his estate.

At least I got to see and hold them.

One day I need to buy one of the proof gold pieces that Mr. Blakely designed. They're rather expensive, of course.

 

Which makes it unsurprising that an Englishman would have designed their coins, I suppose.

It goes without saying that the Blakelys were quite exotic for this Georgia town. Both had British accents (she more than he, as I recall), and then there was that house with all the wonderful South Pacific relics and souvenirs. Thanks for triggering my little stroll down memory lane with that coin.

Perhaps ironically, considering my onetime personal link to the father of their coinage, I have never once owned a Tongan coin.

I suppose I shall have to remedy that, eh?