Spain. Philip II (1556-98) Gold 4 Escudo (Double doubloon). Seville mint. Surveyor D After the discovery of the new world, Similar to the silver cob pieces of eight or Reales prevalent during the 16th - 18th century, pieces of high purity gold planchet were cut into correct weights before being hammered with the Hapsburg coat of arms and Jerusalem's cross. Due to the old method and lack of technology back then, many were poorly and offstruck. These gold cobs come in 1, 2, 4 and 8 escudo with the last one being the equivalent weight of a crown. Centuries later, modern minting technology replaced these crude hammered units. Trivia: Similar to pieces of eights, these escudo or doubloon were objects often associated with pirate lore.
Thanks.. this is as good a condition as it can get.. if not for a slight weak struck point 8 o'clock on the shield, it will be a complete shield and cross.
Lovely coin! Here is a 1751-So Santiago Mint/ AV 8 Escudos Fernando VI of Spain From Atocha ship wreck
Sorry to tell you but all coins recovered from the Atocha, gold and siver were minted primarily between 1598 and 1621. The ship also sank in 1622 so unless the Spanish had better technology then we think they did and had an time machine and minted coins in 1751 and sent them back 129 years.
Not everybody may realize it but cob coins were not struck the way they were because of any lack of technology. The technology to mint coins quite effectively had existed for hundreds of years before Columbus ever landed in the New World. Cob coins, silver, gold, and even cooper, were struck the way they were because of Royal Decree by the Spanish crown. Spaniards in the New World were instructed to mint the coins as quickly as possible so they could be shipped back to Spain as quickly as possible, with the only requirement being that they bear the mark of the Spanish crown. The Spanish King did this so he could more effectively keep track of what was known as the "Royal Fifth". In simple terms it was much easier to count coins and thus keep track of accounting than it was to weigh gold and silver ingots. And it helped prevent cheating. Of course a small portion the minted coins were kept in the New World to be used in local commerce. And it was deemed quite acceptable for the crude coins to serve this purpose while at the same time fulfilling an immediate need for such. Also bear in mind that presentation pieces were also struck at these colonial mints using the same modern (at the time) technology that was available in Spain itself. Thus producing coins of equal high quality. This coin that I used to own is one of the first coins actually struck in the New World. It was struck in the personal home of Hernan Cortez, in Mexico, in 1542. And as you can plainly see, even then technology was not an issue. Not an issue at all.
My mistake, I was still half asleep when I posted that It was from the Nuestra Senora de la Luz wreck, sorry about that....
I'd love to have a gold cob someday. Panzerman's gold 8-escudo is of course amazing, as usual. I think pretty much anything Spanish from the 1500s through the 1800s gets tagged "pirate coin" by one seller or another. People are mighty attached to the romance of pirate lore, so I guess it's not that surprising. Here's my latest addition from that category. Just a little half-escudo, but it's the key date for the type, and just graded at PCGS. XF40 makes it a $500 coin by Krause values, and I've got less than $200 in it. Plus I love the toning. So I'm happy with this one. It's also the only one graded at PCGS, as I mentioned in my thread about the submissions.
