Lima 8 Reales - Assay Or Chops Or Other?

Hey, Trez...

I recall seeing that you posted this on T-Net - or was it the Cob forum? I never got around to replying about it (haven't checked in much on either site recently). It looked familiar - I believe this was on ebay last year?

(3) things, of course, going on here: The divots, the scratchiti, and the edge clips (the one obvious straight cut, plus possibly a few kisses elsewhere).

I can't see the scratches being anything other than someone's doodling. The pattern is somewhat like the 1830s El Salvador zig-zag stamp... but it's not quite right, plus it appears (3) times (on the cross spokes and the tressure). There's no obvious pattern or apparent intent.

Noting that, we have those punchmarks... have never really seen anything like that on a cob, any milled reales or anything else. Definitely not as-made natural "lacunas". "Assay test scoops"? Hmmmm... well, that's a new one for me. Such enormous marks... and on both sides like that (as opposed to, say, a single test cut on the edge)? Curious. If anything, those seem more like someone's attempt to cancel the coin, condemning it as fake.

Seen in addition to what I am rather sure is just doodling... I'm inclined to believe that the punched divots are also someone taking out their boredom on a coin.

Then the edge cut... could be related to (or a cause of) the first two issues... OR it could be completely unrelated. Impossible to tell... As crude as that cut is, I would say that I doubt it was done to conform to some other monetary standard.

So, my best guess is that it was simply a coin that has been intentionally abused. I could be wrong... If nothing else, send Dan the pics. He'll probably at least give a quick yes or no on whether he's seen anything similar before.

Also note that there's a separate round divot/punch at the center of the cross.

The scratchiti that I called "doodling"... I don't see there being any purpose/intent to it (hence "doodling"). I also don't see any reason to need (3) huge "scoops" to test for purity. Additionally, those marks don't resemble any kind of Chinese/Indonesian chopmarks/counterstamps that I've ever seen.

It's a curious piece... in its totality, I don't see there being any particular purpose to what we're seeing.

The ovals look like the coin was "pressed" as a test of silver content. In the mid 1800's it is common to see a coin squeezed or pressed with a rounded point to see if it is brittle. Debased or German silver counterfeits would crack under this kind of pressure while silver would be malleable. Why it was done three times may be an issue.

Just thinking out loud but the pressure points might be associated with some sort of vice used to hold the coin while being cut.

Finally the doodling - in particular the zig-zag form was also a test cut seen on mid 1800s coins suspected of being forgeries. The marks were made by a hand held low speed drill that cut into the surface enough to expose a Sheffield plate or electroplate.