1689 Cob Found In Rockingham County Va

[Dcraun]

1689 Spanish Cob minted in Lima Peru found in a hay field in Rockingham county Va. I never expected to find a coin this old on this side of the Blue Ridge mountains.

[Chase Goldman]

Congrats!  Yep it is an especially unusual find that far west, but not unheard of as Spanish Silver was used throughout the colonies and US as legal tender well into the early-to-mid 1800's and that area had plenty of Colonial era settlements and of course the CW Valley Campaign, so officers may have been carrying silver to trade with the locals.  I found a similar 1600's era 1/2 Reale Cob last year on an invite from my buddy Bob (F350Platinum) but it was in the Northern Neck, so more "expected" there thanbwhere you found yours, but a rare and coveted find no matter where one of those turns up now.  He has found A LOT of Spanish silver from Cobs, to minted Reales, and cut Pistereens in his neck of the woods, there.  I once found an 1830 Mexican First Republic 1/2 Reale minted in Mexico City in South Central PA on a remote Civil War picket site (no documented CW activity there but plenty of CW artifacts found).  Would love to hear that coin tell the story of it journey from Mexico to how it came to be in that PA cornfield, just as how yours came to rest in the Shenandoah Valley of VA.

[Dcraun]

10 minutes ago, Chase Goldman said:

Congrats!  Yep it is an especially unusual find that far west, but not unheard of as Spanish Silver was used throughout the colonies and US as legal tender well into the early-to-mid 1800's and that area had plenty of Colonial era settlements and of course the CW Valley Campaign, so officers may have been carrying silver to trade with the locals.  I found a similar 1600's era 1/2 Reale Cob last year on an invite from my buddy Bob (F350Platinum) but it was in the Northern Neck, so more "expected" there thanbwhere you found yours, but a rare and coveted find no matter where one of those turns up now.  He has found A LOT of Spanish silver from Cobs, to minted Reales, and cut Pistereens in his neck of the woods, there.  I once found an 1830 Mexican First Republuc 1/2 Reale minted in Mexico City in South Central PA on a remote Civil War picket site (no documented CW activity there but plenty of CW artifacts found).  Would love to hear that coin tell the story of it journey from Mexico to how it came to be in that PA cornfield, just as how yours came to rest in the Shenandoah Valley of VA.

Yes if only they could talk, this coin was also found at a Civil war pickett location it could’ve even been a soldier’s lucky charm.

[F350Platinum]

Ha, beat me by one year 👍 Nice!

I got a 1690 in a field here hunting with Chase, we were in another place when he scored his 1650's half reale. 🥳

That's a great find DC! Outstanding. Looks like it was warm when you dug it. Got mine in December last year. 🥶

Looooove seeing that Spanish cross. 🏆

[schoolofhardNox]

Awesome find. Breaking into the 1600's is a hard thing to do. Silver makes it all the better.

[deathray]

Fantastic! A cob coin is super high on my wish list. Congratulations!

[Valens Legacy]

Very, very , nice looking coin, and a very good save.

Good luck on your next outing and stay safe out there.

Merry Christmas.

[geof_junk]

The Spanish Dollar were used a lot in that era. The one I want is the 1751 minted in Mexico that the Australian NSW converted to the  1813 Holey Dollar and Dump. I would settle for any holey dollar in any condition. 🤑

What is a holey dollar worth?

SOLD IN 1997 FOR $37,000 & NOW VALUED AT $500,000.
Created from a Spanish Silver Dollar that was struck at the Mexico Mint in 1757, the coin is unique. It is the only Holey Dollar created from a dollar struck during the reign of Ferdinand VI. No other privately held examples exist.

 

A good link for more info ..........     --LINK--

[Tom_in_CA]

Amazing find.   Here on the west coast, we can only dream of finding cobs.  Our earliest European toe-holds only date to the 1770s, at the earliest.   At which time it was milled coins by then, not cobs.   I've heard of at least 2 cobs found here in CA.   They're rare !

[PI-Man]

Congrats! That’s a beauty.  Now your primed for Spanish wrecks down here.

My first one was in a corn field in Maryland.