1796 Silver 8 Reale Coin

Looks like a job for Superman (Swamperbob)!

I'm afraid to give opinions on these now because so many turn out to be counterfeit. Swamperbob will know the answer to this one. He is truly an amazing source of knowledge on these.

texasmick - I missed the request for a price.

The coin is in my opinion "overly" choped to the point where it really becomes serious damage. I am not a great lover of chops anyway so I would peg the value at roughly $20 if real and about $25 to 30 if it is a Boston forgery with only one edge lap.

This is of course based on the presumption that it is mated with the Mo FM reverse. The portrait is Mexico city so any other mint and assayer would make it a forgery.

King Charles IV may not like being called a "she".

Even though at the time he was considered of less than perfect character.

Bob,

Thank you so much for the detailed response. Unfortunately, I didn't see your email until after I saw the coin, so I didn't realize that you were actually interested in it beyond your willingness to assist me. I'm very sorry; I feel like you helped me out and now I can't answer the lingering questions that you have.

I'll share my story:

I answered a local ad for someone selling off the remainder of an old collection. The ad that caught my eye was for the silver flats, rounds, and dollars that I posted about the other day. I was too late for them, but she still had the 8 Reale coin and a couple of binders of various coins.

I've been coveting an old Spanish dollar (and a Romain coin), so I made some inquiries about this one. It turns out she paid $99 for it from the Washington Mint several years back (I saw the receipt), but was willing to sell it for $45. I really didn't want to get off on the wrong foot by telling her that she paid far too much and that I could only offer $20.

By the time I got there, I knew that I was interested in the coins in the binder, having been educated that the Reale was not the specimen for me. I already felt uncomfortable sitting in a stranger's kitchen and I didn't think I could identify the presence or absence of an edge overlap. Really, if I had realized that I might be able to answer Swamperbob's questions, I would have opened the airtite and examined the edge. But for reasons stated above, I just gave the obverse and reverse a cursory look and moved on.

Bob, I want to say that the information you shared on the thread and in email is very interesting. I have such a keen and critical eye in my vocation, it eats at me that I can be so very very clueless in my avocation. It seems to me that the Washington Mint COA pretty much guarantees that the coin has the correct weight and composition, but that it still might be one of the Boston forgeries. Sadly, the question lingers....

I did cherrypick the coins from binders and offered a fair price, IMO (I can't go around buying things for ten cents on the dollar, I feel like a heel). I will share some pics after I get my new tripod set up

Thanks again, and....