Posted 08/05/2006 9:38 pm
TLS5933 - the Spanish Milled Dollar (8 REales) and the replacement coin the Mexican 8R (Cap and Ray) are in fact all over ebay. That is what I started collecting years ago and although I now focus on the counterfeit varieties made in the US and England, I still love this series. I see dozens of examples every day. I own several thousand.
They are still relatively inexpensive for a few reasons:
1. They were made in large (huge) numbers and tended to be hoarded so that large groups are still surfacing.
2. There are a lot of fakes coming out of China and they tend to scare off some collectors.
3. Few collectors actually understand the importance that the Spanish 8R played in the history of the US.
I couldn't agree with you more that the 8R and to a slightly lesser extent the 4R were used in the US far MORE than any of the US minted silver coins. The minor Spanish coins were often underweight and underassay but the 8R especially was a guarantee of intrinsic value. It was used by banks and merchants for most transactions in the US before the Civil War. In 1839 to 1844 one mint official estimated that 90% of all circulating Specie in the US was SPANISH AMERICAN. That fact alone makes me accept the 8R as THE PREDOMINANT US coin. It was not encountered SOMETIMES - it was used in 90 out of 100 transactions on average in the period before 1844.
When I was a kid first starting out in coin collecting, I asked all my relatives about old coins they might have in their attics. My Great Aunt came across a group of old papers while searching her attic for old coins. The papers were receipts that were given to my Great-great-great-great Grandfather in 1812 for the construction of his new house (the house she was cleaning out). They were all expressed in terms of Reales. Not Dollars! This was in Lakeville, Massachusetts. So, I personally have no problem considering Mexican coins a true US circulating coinage.
So why are we hearing so little about Spanish American and Mexican issues? Could it simply be the anti-Mexican feelings so rampant in the US today?
They are still relatively inexpensive for a few reasons:
1. They were made in large (huge) numbers and tended to be hoarded so that large groups are still surfacing.
2. There are a lot of fakes coming out of China and they tend to scare off some collectors.
3. Few collectors actually understand the importance that the Spanish 8R played in the history of the US.
I couldn't agree with you more that the 8R and to a slightly lesser extent the 4R were used in the US far MORE than any of the US minted silver coins. The minor Spanish coins were often underweight and underassay but the 8R especially was a guarantee of intrinsic value. It was used by banks and merchants for most transactions in the US before the Civil War. In 1839 to 1844 one mint official estimated that 90% of all circulating Specie in the US was SPANISH AMERICAN. That fact alone makes me accept the 8R as THE PREDOMINANT US coin. It was not encountered SOMETIMES - it was used in 90 out of 100 transactions on average in the period before 1844.
When I was a kid first starting out in coin collecting, I asked all my relatives about old coins they might have in their attics. My Great Aunt came across a group of old papers while searching her attic for old coins. The papers were receipts that were given to my Great-great-great-great Grandfather in 1812 for the construction of his new house (the house she was cleaning out). They were all expressed in terms of Reales. Not Dollars! This was in Lakeville, Massachusetts. So, I personally have no problem considering Mexican coins a true US circulating coinage.
So why are we hearing so little about Spanish American and Mexican issues? Could it simply be the anti-Mexican feelings so rampant in the US today?
