Photo Credit: EMPEROR’S TREASURE TROVE
16th Century Mexican 4 Reales Silver Cob Coin
Asking Price: $499.99 (price as of 2019; item no longer available)
Pros:
-This late 16th century silver 4 reales cob coin was struck during the reign of Felipe II of Spain between 1556 and 1598 in Mexico City.
-This coin has a weight of 13.69 grams (0.4401 troy ounces) and is minted from 93.05% fine silver.
-Even though this Mexican 4 reales silver coin was struck in the late 16th century, it almost certainly would have circulated during the Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean between about 1640 and 1725. This is because Spanish colonial coinage often remained in circulation for 100 to 200 years after striking during this period.
-This Spanish colonial cob coin is graded XF-40 by NGC (Numismatic Guaranty Corporation). NGC is a well-respected third-party certification service that guarantees both the grade and the authenticity of the piece.
-The Spanish struck 5 different silver denominations throughout their realms: the 1/2 real, 1 real, 2 reales, 4 reales and 8 reales coins. The largest of these, the 8 reales, was also known as the infamous “piece-of-eight”. It was the predecessor coin to the American silver dollar and was widely coveted throughout the New World by both pirates and honest shopkeepers alike.
-Pirates were surprisingly progressive and egalitarian for their time. The crew elected its own captain (and could un-elect him as well). Any captured booty was divided fairly among the crew, with the captain generally receiving only 2 to 6 times the share of the average crewman. They even enjoyed a primitive form of disability insurance, where any pirate crew member injured in action would receive a special payout to compensate him for the loss of a hand, foot or an eye.
-This Mexican 4 reales is a cob coin, which was made by cutting a blank off the end of a roughly-formed silver bar. The Spanish word for end is “cabo”, hence the English adoption of the term “cob” in reference to this coinage. The ill-formed lump was then hand-struck between two dies, resulting in a fairly crude coin where major design elements were frequently off the flan.
-As mentioned previously, cob coins are usually very poorly struck. In addition, it is quite common for them to suffer damage from saltwater immersion (shipwreck coins), cleaning or modification into jewelry. However, this Mexican 4 reales example is effectively pristine, with a well-formed planchet, excellent centering and good striking.
-Considering the enduring romance of the pirate age (as evidenced by the popularity of movies like Pirates of the Caribbean), cob pieces from the 16th and 17th century are in perennially high demand. Therefore, I find the $500 asking price for this Mexican silver 4 reales cob coin to be quite fair, especially in light of its excellent state of preservation. You can verify this by checking recent auction results for similar pieces here.
Cons:
-For those purists out there, this silver 4 reales isn’t one of those legendary “piece-of-eight” coins. Instead, it is a “four-bit” coin – exactly half of a piece-of-eight. But I hardly consider this a con.
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