I found this coin in a mixed bag of junk silver I purchased today. It appears to be a Spanish colonial 2 reales from Mexico. Circa mid 1500's I know it's a Carlos and Joanna coin, but is there any info/reference books, online, etc..for 16th century coins?
You can use NGC's price guide as a reference.. Very nice find for junk silver http://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/world/mexico-2-reales-mb-12-1542-55-cuid-12325-duid-42358
I find it simply amazing that this was found in a junk silver lot ! That said, I see nothing that makes me think it is not genuine. That doesn't mean it is genuine, only that it is not an obvious fake to me. And make no mistake, fakes are known. So the coin would have to be authenticated. The best person I know of to do that would be Rick Ponterio. The coin is from what is known as the Late Series and is from the 4th assayer of that series. There is no documentation, at least none as of the date of my research materials which come from 2002, as to what this assayers name was exactly. But it is thought to have been either Luis Rodriguez or Luis Gutierrez. Nor can the exact minting date for these coins be determined with certainty. But it has to fall someplace between 1546 and 1553. The coin is from the more common varieties of this assayer which is established by the plain M mint mark, as opposed to the M with small o over it mint mark. But as a general rule these coins are known for their higher quality than those of their later brethren, the M o, they usually command higher prices on the market. These specific coins are also known for typically being found on round and complete planchets. This particular example however looks to have been clipped at some point, so that could have a detrimental effect on it's value. If you want to know value, I suggest searching here - http://www.coinarchives.com/w/ or here - http://www.acsearch.info/index.html?mcs=1 You will have to establish an account to use the second, but it is free.
I bought this lot from my local coin shop. There are a bunch more silver coins, mostly modern from this purchase. I bought the lot for $150. He knew he had some decent stuff in the bag, but he sold me the lot for a few dollars over melt. I plan to sell some of the modern coins, but these (below) are the ones I'm keeping. I asked about the 2 Reales posted above, because the ones I have from this era have different mint marks, so I thought it was about time I began to catalogue these properly.
Lucky you ! Eleven years ago I purchased this single coin from Dan Sedwick for more than double that. This one was struck in 1542 when the Mexico mint was still set up in the home of Cortez.
This one was struck in 1542 when the Mexico mint was still set up in the home of Cortez.[/QUOTE] Wow! This is about time period when the Spanish families that make me and my kin up traveled and settled in central Mexico, near Guadalajara. My paternal family owned vast tracks of lands throughout the centuries, which were divided up into smaller ranches over generations. I've often wondered if they did in fact bury small amounts of cash (ie: silver & gold) on their properties. In the extreme remoteness of these ranches where else would they have placed them. There were no banks to speak of and the Spanish Iberians were always ready to tax the Spanish Criollos at every turn. In an earlier post, I had mentioned how my father and his brothers found a cask of 8 Reales on their ranch. When they showed the coins to my grandfather he smirked and said they were of no value because they were old and were counterfeit. Indeed they were counterfeits, but were silver nonetheless. Here is the last surviving example in our possession:
I found a similar counterfeit 8 Reales on this website: http://www.copperclem.com/Cobs.htm Here's an example of one that was recently sold:
