1395

Lot of Spanish Treasure

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Coins: Shipwreck Silver Start Price:150.00 USD Estimated At:300.00 - 500.00 USD
Lot of Spanish Treasure
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Lot of Early Spanish Coppers. Found Spanish Treasure. Two pounds. Varied sizes, but most about 28mm ( 1,1/8 inch). Weathered, Some are legible. Great authentic treasure "clink". Date: 1700-1850 Location: Spain HWAC# 75507
This lot, along with lots 1385, 1394, 1395, 1396 and a few others perplexed me when they came in with a major collection. the consignor couldn't remember any story associated with them, and they were all in one large unsorted bag. There was such variety, though after close examination, the common thread was "Spain", inclusive of Roman period.I thought perhaps this was some sort of off shore treasure, but there was no evidence of sea erosion/deterioration. I opined that perhaps this is from a land "treasure", and spent some time looking in numismatic circles for a discussion of such, and found nothing.

I showed the coins to David Elliott, our Reno ancient and foreign expert (pres. of Reno Coin Club) who made the Spain identification. There were also a few coins from Portugal.

Not finding specific info on land treasures of copper coins, we decided to let the coins fly. We didn't know the exact story, and thought it would come to light during the auction process. Turns out I was looking in the wrong place. Taking a few days off, I began reading Innocents Abroad, which somehow had escaped my basket, as I am a huge Mark Twain fan, unarguably well past the "fan" part. (I've been lucky enough to wok on some of the mines and prospects that Clemens worked on, as well as having been part of original Clemens document discoveries.) So as I was reading along, imagine my surprise when he ventured into talking about the money and coin situation in Tangiers and neighboring regions: "The Jewish money-changers have their dens close at hand, and all day long are counting bronze coins and transferring them from one basket to another. They don't coin much money nowadays, I think I saw none but what was dated four or five hundred years back, and was badly worn and battered. These coins are not very valuable. ... I bought nearly half a pint of their money for a schilling myself. I am not proud on account of having so much money, though. I care nothing for wealth." (p61)

So here, locked in a Mark Twain tale was the exact description of what we had- a small hoard ("basket") of "bronze" coins, the newest of which was about 1860, with dozens of coins dating back hundreds of years. Clearly, this assemblage is something taken out of circulation about 1860 from just such a circumstance. Fascinating!- FH