Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Hello from SoCal - Spanish Coin?

L

lchobbs

New Member
Joined
May 5, 2018
Messages
13
Location
Southern California
Hello Everyone,
I have just made the leap (or as some would say the descent) into metal detecting. Been out a few times with a good friend. Found a silver quarter my second time out, and am hooked. Can't wait to see what else turns up down here in SoCal. I found a Spanish coin from 1623 a few years ago just walking on the beach and am hoping that maybe my luck will hold out and I'll find some more with my MXSport. Spent a few nights with my own kids out looking in fields and tot lots around my home and have about $20 in clad to show for it. Really appreciate all of the wisdom that I have found on Friendly Metal Detecting Forum. Good Hunting Everyone!

I'm attaching a couple of photos of my Spanish Coin. Any information you all had about it would be great.
 

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Welcome from Salinas, CA. I hate to be a killjoy, but I don't think a) that's from the 1620s, or b) that's a period loss .

It's either not a cob, or it was a modern (tourist fumble fingers) loss.

In the entire state of CA, only a few cobs have ever been found md'ing . Go figure: The first mission (permanent European toe-hold) wasn't till 1769. And realistically speaking, very few Europeans here before 1800. Long after the cob era.

What was the circumstance ? Storm erosion ? What beach ?
 
Tom_in_CA said:
Welcome from Salinas, CA. I hate to be a killjoy, but I don't think a) that's from the 1620s, or b) that's a period loss .

It's either not a cob, or it was a modern (tourist fumble fingers) loss.

In the entire state of CA, only a few cobs have ever been found md'ing . Go figure: The first mission (permanent European toe-hold) wasn't till 1769. And realistically speaking, very few Europeans here before 1800. Long after the cob era.

What was the circumstance ? Storm erosion ? What beach ?
Click to expand...


I grew up in Newport Beach, and found it north of Laguna. The coin was attached to a clump of shells and sand. I thought at first that it was a tag from a comercial oyster bed or something and just picked it up on a lark to see if I could read what it said. It was on the edge of a little rise at the base of a 20 or so foot cliff. I figure it must have been tossed up there during a storm or high surf. Don't think it was dropped by a tourist, kind of a strange thing for them to have on the beach. Would love to find out who to talk to about it.
 
lchobbs said:
.... Don't think it was dropped by a tourist, kind of a strange thing for them to have on the beach. ....
Click to expand...

As strange as it sounds, it's not impossible. I know a guy who found a Roman coin in Monterey , CA demolition site . Dated to something like AD 60 or something like that. He wrote it off to a wartime souvenir brought back by a returning GI.

Coin collecting is nothing new. In the 1920s, 30s, etc.... When "Egyptology" was all-the rage, a tourist could walk the tourist streets of Egyptian cities, and buy ancient coins as curiosity pieces from street-side vendor tent tables. And So too is it possible that cobs have been forever-more traded , collected, etc....

As another example (don't get "lost in the example"), there's been md'rs in Florida who thought they'd found a cob. Only to later realize it's the replica ones that are sold in the Mel Fisher museum gift shop. Doh!

I know a guy who found a seated coin on the beach, still in the plastic sleeve with a price tag on it. And as a kid, I found a foreign European coin from the 1800s in my neighborhood, even though all the houses on our street dated to the late 1950s only. How did I know it was a modern loss ? Still in the bezzle. Could something fall out of a bezzle or mount ? You bet.

Yes there was exploratory traffic on the west coast prior to the founding of San Diego. As early as the 1500's , ships were plying the coast, naming sites, planting flags, etc.... Is it possible that an explorer era trade trinket could be here ? Sure. Is it likely someone's going to eye-ball such a find simply walking down the beach ? Not likely.

I say this as someone who's found over 100 reales in CA, dating back to the mid 1700's. So please don't take this an anything un-respectful.
 
Thanks Tom

Thanks for providing some perspective on this. Any suggestions on what to do with it or who to talk with about it? I don't think it was a recent drop because of how it was attached to the sand and shells. It had seems to have been in the sand for a long time as it was practically cemented to the shells. I am so bummed that I removed it from the clump it was on,but like I said, at the time I thought it was some sort of tag from an oyster bed or clam bed and was trying to read what it said. I used to teach 4th grade down here in SoCal, so was surprised when I saw the date as well, as I was teaching my kids at school about the opening of the missions. I'm wondering if anyone has heard anything about a ship that was lost trading between Spain and Asia in the 1600s? I guy can hope. :lol:
 
Hope it's real..

..,my "old coin"? Not so much.
 

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lchobbs said:
Gotta love those zincs. What kind of coin is the one you found?
Click to expand...

I thought it was a spanish coin from when they landed in San Diego. I don't know much about old coins. I was dumbfounded.

After some research, it turned out to be a board game piece from Dread Pirate.
 
lchobbs said:
.... I don't think it was a recent drop because of how it was attached to the sand and shells. It had seems to have been in the sand for a long time as it was practically cemented to the shells. ....
Click to expand...

lchobbs, more "balanced comment" : As someone who's done wet sand beach erosion storm hunt chasing for nearly 40 yrs., I can tell you that a coin, as recent as clad, can attain a corral look . Eg.: sand cemented to it, barnacle looking crustations, etc.... Yup, in as little as 30 yrs. Especially if they get in bed-rock (tide pool, or sand-stone bottom etc...) and are next to a rotting nail. Sand fuses and forms around the nail, to where the nail is eventually gone (just some reddish color remains). And the resulting coin next to the iron created a little globule of fused sand, pebbles, etc....

On one beach we hit, when silver shows up (as recent as silver roosies), the silver coins come off the beach in a cacoon of sorts. That resemble a large black marble. You break it open, and a toasted silver coin is there for you :)

I would also like to note that if your cob is silver, then notice how it's not been salt-kissed. This could simply be that it was way back in the dry sand dunes, and only recently fell out of the dunes @ some recent event. But not likely. Beause even those in the dry sand dunes are STILL exposed to salt (that sand is salty, even if not wet-salty). So they're still going to turn black and get "kissed", even if not in the surf zone or wet bedrock.

You could send it in for authentication. And perhaps it would come back as real. But just saying: It's possible to be a modern loss. And not pre-mission era explorer loss.
 
That’s a bummer

Walrus 350, That must have been a bummer when it turned out to be a game piece. The cool thing is you can still claim to have found “Pirate Treasure,” and completely be telling the truth.:yes: I wonder what treasure is in locker 406?
 
lchobbs said:
Walrus 350, That must have been a bummer when it turned out to be a game piece. The cool thing is you can still claim to have found “Pirate Treasure,” and completely be telling the truth.:yes: I wonder what treasure is in locker 406?
Click to expand...

Bummer for sure. It felt light and the design didn't have any wear so I was skeptical after 30 seconds.
Now that you mention it, I think I'll keep it in the pouch. Whenever someone asks what my best find is, I'll show them the coin.
 
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