Hi Everyone.My name is Ron Stump and I live in Palm Bay,Florida.I am new to this forum and am looking for a little help with some of the coins that I have found while metal detecting over the years.Among some of my finds are a 1784 1 reale coin and a 1789 2 reale coin.Does anyone know what the silver content of these coins is?A friend of mine says that they are no more than .500 silver.I appreciate any help that you can give.Thanks in advance.
Howdy rons - Welcome to the Forum !! The purity of silver for Spanish colonial coins changed several times over the years. But for the coins you ask about, the '84 1 reale was .9030 silver. The '89 2 reales varies depending on what the assayer's mark is. It was either .8960 or .9030. And rons, it is not necessary to make the same post more than once. Your other post of the same question has been deleted.
Hey Ron, Take a peek-see here: http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinIntros/Sp-Silver.intro.html Ribbit Ps: Welcome to CoinTalk! :hail:
Ron, Welcome to Coin Talk and congrats on the nice finds! I was going to say that they are better than .900 fine Silver but the Handsome Toad beat me to it with a great source! I am assuming that you found the coins on a Beach! If so, then they probably washed out of the Sand Dunes during a big storm. Many folks don't realize that a lot of the coins from Spanish Shipwrecks were washed onto the beaches by Hurricanes and strong storms and eventually buried in the Sand Dunes. If there is no restrictions against disturbing the Sand Dunes (mainly because of the Sea Oats which are on the Endangered Species list) in the area that you search, then this is where you want to look. You may have to get down 5 to 8 feet or so in the Sand Dunes, so make sure you repair any damage you do in one area before moving a few few or more over to continue searching. Do realize that anything that you find, could be confiscated by the State of Florida if they were to find out! Good luck...Frank
I was wondering if the law from the late 15th century was still in effect when the coins in question were minted? I didn't see where there was a revision to the 1479 Act providing for 93.05 percent silver content but wondered if there was one and when it occurred. Do you know? Ribbit
Greetings and Welcome to the forum. One thing for sure is you are chatting with the right fellows (GDJ, Huntsman, and Toad) who know about Spanish silver. :thumb: Take Care Ben
I know more about the copper than silver. :mouth: I just run across it in my travels but never wondered about the silver content percentage. Ribbit
Yeah, there were quite a few over the years. Even the source you provided mentions it in a way when he says - "The ascendancy of Spanish coinage dates from 1537 when Charles I, revising an act of 1479, promulgated exacting standards for Spanish silver and gold coins. The Spanish eight reales coin was set at a weight of 423.9 grains (27.47 grams) of .9305 fine silver. From that date the coin only depreciated some 4.4% over the next 250 years!" The Real Cedula of June 9, 1728 by Philip V reduced the silver fineness of the major coins to .9166 silver and the fineness of the minor coins (2, 1 and 1/2 reale pieces) to .8333 silver. Then the Real Cedula of March 18, 1771 and May 29, 1772 by Carlos III reduced the fineness of the major coins even more to .9027 silver. Carlos IIII changed it yet again, more than once, to the numbers I previously quoted in this thread. For those changes and subsequent changes you can look the numbers up in the Krause catalog.
Much thanks. Thank you all very much for the information.I found the coins in Northern Virginia,while looking for Civil War relics.The 2 reale coin has some wear and damage and the 1 reale coin is very worn,but has a readable date.I also have a couple of cut pieces that are in nice condition.I made a few nice finds during my 13 years there.Thanks for the welcome,also.I appreciate it.
Wow! I would have thought that a fellow fro Palm Bay, Florida would have surely found them on the Beach! Well anyways, now you know where to look, if an when you want to try the beaches but beware of the restrictions. Frank
Doug, I did not know that this was the case with the Silver coinage from different years and denominations! I know that a lot of the 1500's and 1600's coins minted in Mexico, Central America and South America were hurriedly minted and shipped and the Silver content was fairly high in these but did not know about the later coins. Frank
It was not unusual at all for the fineness of the gold and silver coins or their weight to change at the whim of the Royalty. This was true in all nations with very, very few exceptions. One notable exception was the gold ducat which was produced in large quantities by virtually every nation in Europe. The fineness remained at .986 and the weight at 3.5gm from its inception in 1274 even until today.
Hey Doug? There's something up with the site. I just got a message someone posted to this thread and when I clicked on it to come reply to it, it isn't here. What up with that? Ribbit Ps: The person that posted is "norm" and I have the message still in my inbox, if you need a copy of it.
