I've recently come across a coin that I know nothing about. I don't think is it either valuable or rare but I would appreciate someone telling me something about it. I think it may be a reproduction of a "Pillar Dollar" ...does anyone know?
I is a modern fake. I am sure about it. The island of Hispaniola was divided between France (Haiti) and Spain (Dominican Republic) in 1780 and the real name of the biggest silver coin of the Spanish empire was 8R a shortage for 8 REALES. The English name "PIECE OF EIGHT" was invented by foreign merchants who used the 8R as a worldwide "silver dollar". I have 8R of Mexico 8R Mo 1803 it is real 27.07 Grams 903/1000 silver content. Its color is much more silverlike than the coin in the picture above.
Thanks very much Giladzuc, I recently saw one on Ebay, the bidding was very low that's why I thought it was worthless. Your reply just confirms what I thought. Thanks very much though, always nice to know a little history too. Thanks for taking the time to reply.
Getting 8 Reales The problem with 8 Reales starts with the 18th century 2 pillars types, and oleder coins. All I saw of pillars type are fake coins. the "COB" and cross types are smaller coins and much expensive. as for later 8 Reales types, fakes exists and I saw 2 authentic used coins , and one fake from Mexico (Mo) which are the most common types. Another Mints coins (Lima , Santiago , Guatemala , Bogota , Santo Domingo ...) are much rarer. The 2 authentic coins where in Fine condition and I bought one, the first and only that was offered to my till now. Using a coin is an evidence of authenticity. People usually throw fakes. And Finally , this forum is intended to mutual help among collectors.
Thanks for the Information. I'm not sure if you thought that I was just fishing for values so that I could sell it on EBay when I originally asked for advice. The fact is that I wasn't, I merely meant that the Ebay thing was the only mention of this type of coin that I could find on the Internet. I'm grateful for the infomation that you have supplied and it answers my original question of what it actually is and where it originated from. Thanks
I'm not sure I really understand some of your comments - perhaps I'm misunderstanding. But you are correct, there are a great many fake examples of Spanish colonial coins. There are also a great many authentic examples of both the cob type and the columnarios. But neither one is really more rare than the other - it all depends on the particular coin. And yes some of them can be quite expensive and some of them are not. In a VF grade they can range in value from $25 to several thousand dpending on what coin it is. But don't ever think that just because a coin has seen use or is circulated that it is authentic. Nothing could be further from the truth. For many of the contemporary counterfeit Spanish colonial coins did indeed circulate - and they circulated quite well. And many, if not most, of the counterfeits were made with dies or castings that were produced from authentic circulated coins. H.Morris - The coin you posted about is not a fake or a counterfeit - it's not even a coin. It's a trinket of modern manufacture that is sold to tourists in the Caribbean and amusement parks. They are not sold as genuine items and no one except the children pretends they are.
Thanks For The Information In regarding to the Spanish Empire silver coins: Can you distinguish between circulated Authentic coins and circulated Fake coins ?
If you are asking if I can personally - in most cases involving milled coinage, yes. If you are asking about cobs - no I cannot. But I do know someone who can
