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"America's First Silver Dollar"

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Valued Member
United States
75 Posts
 Posted 04/22/2010  3:01 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Joel A to your friends list
ok, I don't have a good camera, but i'll do my best to post up a picture.

If I've got general "how much is this coin worth" because I've got a lot of coins that I feel might be worth some money, but I'm not really sure.. where should I ask those?
Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts
 Posted 04/22/2010  3:08 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add biokemist6 to your friends list

The coin you are referring to is a Spanish 8 Reale or Pillar Dollar(look at the reverse for the origin of that name). This coin was what would be considered a world currency at one time. Most genuine 8 Reales are not particular rare or valuable since they were minted in such massive quantities for decades. However, there are many copies floating around as souvenirs and historical replicas so there is no way to know whether yours in genuine or not without clear pictures of both sides. There are several people here quite knowledgeable in 8 Reales so we should be able to provide an answer for you either way.
Pillar of the Community
United States
1882 Posts
 Posted 04/22/2010  3:29 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add steve199 to your friends list
Adding to bio's comments: there are also contemporary counterfeits of 8 reales...counterfeits that were made back when the real ones were circulating. My understanding is that those can be quite collectible, too. There are probably fakes of those fakes, too. :)

Valued Member
United States
75 Posts
 Posted 04/22/2010  3:46 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Joel A to your friends list
haha.. well I can't really get a good picture of it to be honest, I can get a picture that shows you what it is, but nothing detailed enough to figure out whether or not it's fake or real I don't think..

you guys said it's not worth much anyways? If it's not worth much I wont even bother.. the box it's in would lead me to believe it's real, but then again I don't have the slightest clue when it comes to coins, all I know is what I've read in the past couple days..

Rest in Peace
United States
1729 Posts
 Posted 04/22/2010  4:21 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add pls to your friends list
These "America's First Dollars" are being flogged again in full-page newspaper ads. I'm surprised they aren't offering a colorized version ...
Pillar of the Community
United States
3294 Posts
 Posted 04/22/2010  4:27 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add nod2003 to your friends list
When some people say not worth much, they are not talking about it being worth $.25 or anything. Not worth much could be anything from $50 or $100 on down. It would depend on authenticity and condition. If you bought it from a newspaper ad, the condition is probably rather bad and would be worth a small amount.
Edited by nod2003
04/22/2010 4:28 pm
Pillar of the Community
Canada
3692 Posts
 Posted 04/22/2010  4:29 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Libertad to your friends list
Coins in the New World were scarce, so to keep up with demand they used coinage of all places (Britain, Spain, France, etc...) At one point they had to issue playing cards in New France (Canada) that acted as cheques in a way. People just used what they could back then. We have it pretty easy these days.
Pillar of the Community
United States
1882 Posts
 Posted 04/22/2010  4:44 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add steve199 to your friends list

Quote:
you guys said it's not worth much anyways?


I know I didn't say that. :)
Valued Member
United States
75 Posts
 Posted 04/22/2010  4:49 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Joel A to your friends list
heh.. well compared to other US coins, it appears to be in really good shape.. but "pls" is hinting maybe it's a fake? I have no back ground on the coin whatsoever.. my great aunt that I never met left me her coin collection in her will... along with about 1000 Kennedy half dollars (no joke) I stumbled upon a few things that made me go "hmm what's that, and is it worth anything?" .. this was just one of those coins... I also stumbled upon quite a few older silver US coins that I think might be worth a little bit.. but I started another thread for those coins..
Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts
 Posted 04/22/2010  5:18 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add biokemist6 to your friends list

Quote:
Most genuine 8 Reales are not particular rare or valuable since they were minted in such massive quantities for decades


Quote:
you guys said it's not worth much anyways?

I probably should have been a bit clearer Odds are that you won't have anything you can retire on but average 8Rs can be worth $50-100 which is really not much for a 200+ year old piece of silver.
Valued Member
United States
75 Posts
 Posted 04/22/2010  5:20 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Joel A to your friends list
hahaha.. well I wasn't expecting to retire on it.. 50-100 dollars for a coin is a lot to someone who knows nothing about coin collecting.. =)
Bedrock of the Community
United States
14454 Posts
 Posted 04/22/2010  5:39 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Bryan1315 to your friends list
8 reales are very common counterfeited but that's not saying yours is counterfeit. The only way to tell is by picture or by weight. We have one guy named swamperbob that actually collects contemporary counterfeit 8 reales coins and can usually spot one even with mediocre pictures, so if you could post pictures I am sure he would be able to tell you what you have if this thread is brought to his attention. Some coins like yours are a no brainer but others are very well made so if no one here can tell you for a fact I know swamperbob surely can
Valued Member
United States
75 Posts
 Posted 04/22/2010  5:41 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Joel A to your friends list
thanks for the heads up, i'll post a picture soon.
Pillar of the Community
United States
1801 Posts
 Posted 04/23/2010  01:14 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add jfransch to your friends list
Your coin is a Spanish Colonial Portrait Dollar. (They stopped making Pillar dollars in 1772.) You need to please describe the coin so I can help you identify it. Reading the reverse legend around the shield and pillar design starting to the right of the top it should read "HISPAN ET IND REX" (King of Spain and the Indies), you need to tell me what follows. The first thing is the mint mark, if it is a large "M" with a small "o" over it the mint is Mexico City. It it is something else, let me know what. Next comes the "8R" which stands for 8 reales, the denomination of the coin. Last should be 2 letters which would be the assayer of the coin that was responsible for it having the correct silver weight. The coin posted below is Mexico City Mint, 8R, assayer TH. Your 1807, if it is an Mo mintmark, should also be assayer TH. However 1807 has a scarce overdate 1807/6 so check the last digit with a powerful magnifier and see if a 6 shows under the 7. As for value, a nice undamaged 8 reales should be worth $35 and up depending on the date/mint. There are many dealers who will pay $35 for these coins all day long. If you were to sell it to a collector that wanted it, you could get a little more. As for the fakes, you would have to post a picture and several of us could offer you an opinion as to the coin being real. The first thing to check is the edge design, it should alternate rectangle/circle all the way around with 2 "overlaps" exactly 180 degrees opposite each other. As stated earlier, some of the contemporary fakes are more valuable than the real coins.

Rest in Peace
United States
1729 Posts
 Posted 04/23/2010  10:59 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add pls to your friends list
<<...but "pls" is hinting maybe it's a fake?>>

Nope - I'm saying that it's merely another coin picked up by a merchandiser who hypes it up to about twice of its true value. Hence my snide remark about colorizing it.
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