SHIPWRECK SILVER 4 REALES COB MONEY

Silver 4 Reales

Also known as cob money.

The coin is ± 33mm in diameter. I do not have a scale that can weigh the coin accurately, but would say that it is about 10g.

Please note that I have cleaned the coin. When I acquired it, it was encrusted in a few hundred years old mass of sea shells and sediment.

The coin was recovered from a shipwreck, the specific name which is unknown to me. It was apparently dived out by Des Williams (ex Rhodesian) who was a professional diver who worked on the ill fated Pipe Alpha Platform in the North Sea. Des dived around the world and also off the South African coastline.

I am not 100% sure, but would date this coin to somewhere around the 1600's during the reign of Philip the III or IV. I believe it to be Spanish Mexican.

Shipwreck coins as such are rare and can fetch high prices. 

Signed for postage will be R17.