Hello all, This interesting piece I have located is up for sale on a collectors site. Not much is being offered on the piece information wise so where can I go to research info on it. Because of the hammered design look I would think early 1600's to1700's. They wavy design is unique and how would you know if it's 8 Reales? It does weigh 10.5 grams. Experts weight in
I would post this on The Cob Corner @bear32211 , @robinjojo and others can identify this. My only comment is that I read somewhere that heart shaped cobs are exceedingly rare.
The person posting this piece said 8 reales. I am going by what they said but I have been doing research with those and have not seen one with this waves on the reverse. It's an interesting piece.
Do not buy that thing that might be a coin but is too damaged to determine. Not sure where you are researching but waves are a pretty common feature on these. Also note the weight on the label.
I am no expert at all, but I would want to know for sure whether it was genuine. It definitely looks like an 8 Reales, and it seems to have an 8 in the right place on the design. But it seems seriously underweight. The surface may look sand-blasted because of years of washing in ocean sand, or it might just be the appearance of a crude sand cast fake.
The guy says that he will take it back if it is not real no questions asked. It's just an odd old piece.
I'd run with @jgenn on this and send it back if you can. There is no doubt it is real but with no provenance and worn to the back of beyond there is little numismatic value and you can't properly identify it. This kind of thing is OK if it is provenanced to a shipwreck with a COA but in this state and under half the weight it should be you could do better with your money. However if you like it and aren't too fussed where it originated from and you feel it is value for money the buyer is always right. You just don't want to find you have buyers remorse in six months because you find out you could have done better.
Although I said I thought it is real, your images aren't the best as I now see striations which could be a pixel issue or something else. I do think that if it was a forgery it would be heavier because forgers aren't that dumb to make something that will immediately raise questions.
