Our Treasure of the Month for April is this remarkably stunning silver 4 reales from the Spanish colonial mint at Mexico City. Bearing a full 1715 date, this coin also has quite a history. Aside from being a coin found on one of the wreck sites of the 1715 Fleet, this coin was recovered by Jack Haskins, a respected historian and researcher. Jack Haskins was particularly well known in the shipwreck community for his scholarly work translating Spanish archives related to the 1715 Fleet.
Our coin was originally offered as lot # 1249 in the Henry Christensen sale of December 6, 1963. Weighing in at a respectable 13.28 grams our featured coin was also a Plate coin in the auction.
It is hard indeed to find a fully dated 4 reales. In fact, this is one of the best that we have ever seen. Observe these two close up images below showing the obverse and reverse of our featured treasure.
Many thanks to Josh Roesner, the proud owner of this coin, who was kind enough to share it with us and provide images as well.
