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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;lordmarcovan, post: 4139210, member: 10461&quot;]This one had a tale to tell, as well.</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/diggers-diary-flashback-i-call-this-one-the-coin-1998.287817/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/diggers-diary-flashback-i-call-this-one-the-coin-1998.287817/">I dug it while a hurricane was blowing in.</a></p><p><br /></p><p>It was an exciting find (and day).</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.cointalk.com/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi88.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fk173%2Flordmarcovan%2FDiggers%2520Diary%2F1012888923087_thecoin.jpg&amp;hash=8b9592c1a7efc788746bb76e09e18638" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.cointalk.com/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi88.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fk173%2Flordmarcovan%2FDiggers%2520Diary%2F14595109.jpg&amp;hash=102b3c78d7f2caba0d13b82b1dff782e" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Transcript of the <i>Atlanta Journal-Constitution</i> article from February 25, 1999:</b></p><p><br /></p><p><i>SPANISH COIN GIVES CLUE TO STATE&#039;S PAST</i></p><p><i>St. Simons Island-- Robertson Shinnick has found a tiny piece of Georgia&#039;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. &quot;I had in my hand a small, squarish piece of copper with a strange design on it,&quot; Shinnick said. &quot;I knew the Spanish colonial mints struck millions of silver coins, but this was obviously copper. &quot;It was a mystery until I identified the design as the monogram of Philip IV of Spain, who reigned from 1621 to 1665.&quot; 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&#039;t particularly dear to collectors-- it&#039;s worth about $65-- but it&#039;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 &quot;quite a find.&quot; He says Shinnick&#039;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. &quot;There were about 30 men, women and children, and friars, but no soldiers. A small garrison of soldiers was located on nearby St. Catherine&#039;s Island,&quot; 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&#039;s done extensive studies on the island. But coins such as the one Shinnick found are rare along the Georgia coast. Shinnick&#039;s may be the first found on St. Simons. &quot;Its significance is in our common state heritage,&quot; Worth says. &quot;It is a bit of actual, concrete evidence of the Spanish missions, right here in Georgia.&quot; 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 &quot;RX&quot; _ for &quot;rex,&quot; or &quot;king,&quot; according to Worth. &quot;Because the friars couldn&#039;t touch coins, my best guess is it was dropped by a passing soldier or an Indian,&quot; says Worth, whose Coosawattee Foundation aims to protect former Native American sites in the Southeast. &quot;It&#039;s just a good history lesson from an era that&#039;s been lost.&quot;</i>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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