Mexico 1830/20 Eomo 8 Reales

I re-read your post and missed a point.

Why or how did the coin came to be located in upstate NY?

The answer is actually simpler than you might think. Prior to 1857 the US used primarily Mexican silver coins as circulating money. In 1845 about 90% of all circulating money was Mexican or Spanish colonial. Your coin was likely one of the coins imported into the US for its value in silver before 1857.

The reason for this was that US had no sources of silver until after the War with Mexico in 1846 - 1848 when the US took possession of California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico from Mexico. With the rocky mountain states came a fantastic amount of gold, silver and other minerals.

The idea of the coin passing to a shop keeper who kept it is certainly worth exploring. I would want to know who that was. It is the most simple explanation of why the coin ended up there.

Thanks! I appreciate the info! I've been wondering about it for a while, but hadn't tracked down any info on the mint.

I'll double-check the coin characteristics, but I believe it to be genuine. My grandmother had an old cardboard check box containing US and world coins - she gave it to me knowing I was interested, but not knowing anything about them herself. When cataloging the group and I came across this one in Krause-Mishler, I took it to a local coin dealer to see if they concurred as I was surprised at what I had found - it was actually they who had noticed the overdate, and they made me a significant offer for it on the spot. I agree, though - it is a coin I have no interest in ever selling. I currently have it in an air-tite, so it should be okay, but I should send it to a grading service someday.

I believe the shopkeeper was my grandmother's... grandfather? She had had them so long, though, she couldn't recall where they had originated, and if they truly were from him. She was also the last surviving of three sisters, so had inherited some of their estates as well, so the coins in the box may have had a circuitous route to her.

The store itself, though, would certainly have been in Elizabethtown, NY, which is about 60 miles south of the Canadian border. That box contained two Civil War tokens from NY, another US merchant token, various US coins with the oldest from 1802, two French 5 Franc coins from 1827 and 1838, a Kingdom of Napoleon coin from 1808 (all three silver-dollar sized), several upper and lower Canada tokens, and various other coins, even including an extremely worn ancient Roman follis of Licinius. Definitely an eclectic batch, but I could believe a store owner setting aside unusual things that came his way.

It makes sense that Mexican silver circulated in the US (and that would explain the other crown-sized silver coins as well), although its condition surprises me - I would imagine a slow migration from Mexico northward, getting wear from hand to hand. I guess it took a more lucky path. It also seems odd, though, that out of all of the common strikes of the period, that it would be a rare one that made it to her. Not that I'm complaining of course. :)

I know this post is older but WOW! That piece is a crown jewel! It's practically the holy grail and with such a wonderful history in your family, I would be honored to have that coin.

to the Community, FrankR!