anybody know what kind of coin this is? My first reaction was that it's spanish. when? where? what?

There possibly one in this image.

http://www.wggb.com/2012/03/16/treasure-battle-con...

And a story.

Can you send a pic of the reverse side ? Does the

One side of the coin feature a crown above roman numerals.

The reverse features the two castles and two lions within a sort of.. well, wavy circle. The two lions and castles are almost always of Spanish origin as it was a coat of arms of the Spanish royalty. As far as I know that symbol can be found on coins around 400 to 250 years ago.

Il do a bit of research to pin the exact date but your best option is to take it to a local museum. Or even a jeweller, who will be able to at least say if it's genuine etc.

If you don't mind me asking, is it yours? How did you come by it ? Etc etc. the more info the better. il edit my question and add info if you send me the reverse pic (or add it here)

It looks clean. Have you cleaned it? Could it be say a forgery ? (the only reason I ask is that the other side should hint at what it is, and it is very clean)

Don't ever throw it away, unless you wanna give it to me lol.

Here's some info to help you decide.

One of the most fascinating areas of world coin collecting is that of Spanish colonials. These coins circulated freely during the colonial period of the New World, both North America and South America. You can find essentially the same coins minted in the Spanish colonies of Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru, from the early 1600s to the early 1800s. They circulated as far north as Canada and as far east as Florida.

These coins look alike, with subtle differences in mint marks and other small details, so it takes detailed knowledge to tell them apart. Coin catalogs and reference books have much more detail. For instance, Spanish colonies in Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and the Philippines produced small amounts of coinage. You can learn from this summary, but it is just a starting point.

It is important to know the kings of Spain during this period, as their names and portraits appear on many coins.

Philip III, 1598-1621

Philip IV, 1621-1665

Charles II, 1665-1700

Philip V, 1700-1746

Luis I, 1724

Fernando VI, 1746-1759

Carlos III, 1759-1788

Carlos IV, 1788-1808

Jose Napoleon, 1808-1813

Ferdinand VII, 1808-1833

Methods of manufacture - There are two major types of Spanish colonials, and several sub-types. At the highest level there are cob coins and there are milled coins. Both come in gold and silver.

Cob or Milled

The rich deposits of precious metal in the New World were too much for Spanish royalty to resist. They were therefore exploited and carried back to Spain. To hasten this process, bars of silver and gold were hacked into chunks of proper weight and struck with heavy hammers between crude, hard-metal dies. The strike imparted a Spanish pattern, or part of a Spanish pattern, into the coin. The Spanish word cabo (English cob) refers to the end of the bar. The size, shape and impression of these cobs was highly irregular. However, they were of proper weight, and that is what mattered to Spanish officials. If a cob was overweight, the minter simply clipped a piece off.

Eventually the crude manufacture of cob coins was replaced by more modern minting technology. Milled coins were made by rolling the silver and gold into sheets of uniform thickness and punching out coin blanks, or planchets, for striking in large screw presses. The presses did a much better job than the hammers used to produce cobs.

Denominations - There are two major denominations of Spanish colonials: reales for silver coins and escudos for gold coins. The denominations have associated numeric values, e.g., one-quarter, one-half, 1, 2, 4, and 8. You can often tell the denomination by 'R' and 'S' marking for reales and escudos. For example, R = 1/2 real, 1R = 1 real, 2R = 2 reales, 2S = 2 escudos, and 8S = 8 escudos. There are 16 reales in one escudo.

Perhaps you have heard American folk tales with mysterious references to gold doubloons and pieces of eight. The escudos are the doubloons, and the reales are the pieces. In fact, the US monetary system has roots in Spanish reales, with 8 reales equivalent to one dollar, 4 reales to 50 cents, 2 reales 25 cents (two bits), one real 10 cents, and half real 5 cents.

Mint Marks - Mint marks are important because they indicate the country of origin.

Assayer Initials - In addition to mint marks, the collector should discern assayer initials. Assayers were people at the mints whose job it was to ensure proper weight and purity of the precious metal in the coin. Usually their initials appear as two or more letters prominently displayed on the coin, but sometimes a single letter appears. The (d on the right of the coin)

Summary - To completely identify a Spanish colonial coin, you need:

The date, either explicitly on the coin or by Spanish ruler

The method of manufacture, cob or milled

The numeric denomination, e.g., 1 real, 2 escudos, 8 reales

The country of origin, as coded by the mint mark

The assayer initials

In conclusion without seeing the coin in better detail I would say it is an 8 Reale cob from the reign of filipe 4th. But this is a guess. I'd say this as it seems to have the Silver Jerusalem cross - Almost all silver cobs have a Jerusalem cross on one side. The cross can be plain or with foils around it. Castles and lions appear in the angles of the cross. Cobs like this date back before 1600 to the early 1700s. Values start around $100 for small, poorly preserved coins and can go as high as $1000 for common-date, well-preserved 8 reales. Silver cobs were produced in Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru.

Hope I'm slightly right lol. But that's all I can offer without a better look.

@fender_stevie87

Lol you've embarrassed me now. I didn't even notice the lions were upside down lol. The Florida coast does seem to piece a bit of this puzzle together. You should show her that article. My only worry still is its remarkably clean, most collectors prefer the dirt lol.

The assayers mark P puts it to Colombia, and the city of popayon

If it is indeed 1572 ( I can't see it in the pic, I can see 72... Maybe my eyes are getting old lol) then it would be put into the reign of felipe the 3rd (who did make them)

Or 1672.....Charles 2nd who also made them.

However the more I look st it the more I can kinda see the 5 embedded in the stamp "error" and it does appear to have qualities of that era. (don't quote me on that ) also when did the concepcion ( or other ships) sink if it was before one of these then it must be of the formers.

The coin looks in good condition. Maybe it was minted soon before loss

Nice the other side is in good condition. And tells it all

Silver pillars and waves - Instead of a crowned shield, some silver cobs use this pillars and waves design. Most of the time, only part of the design is actually visible. In the example here, the 2 at top center means 2 reales, and the 731just above the waves is the date (1731). Collectors will pay premiums for visible components such as these. Silver reales with pillars and waves were produced only in Bolivia and Peru. Hmmm il have to double check though.

Check this site out. The odd shaped coin has many of the same markins and styles. (it's in the pillars and waves bit) plus it'll tell ya about that kinda design

http://www.sedwickcoins.com/articles/colonialcoina...

Mentos and diet Coke. Regular Coke will work also but the diet seems to work best plus the spray isn't all sticky and hard to clean up..

Just uploaded the backsidee

I think it's peruvian escudos, it might be from about 1700