Ernest Richards

The previous Cover Coin was an 8-reales which brought a boatload of documentation to its buyer, Ben Costello. The Cover Coin(s) this time have the same provenience but are of a different denomination. Dave Crooks, an attorney and avid coin and book collector from near Chicago, chose to purchase a couple of 4-real pieces from the “Kip Wagner-documented” coins […]

Before you are PLVS VLTRA-ed to death, let us call your attention to the initialized version of this motto which resides in the center row of characters on certain coins from Lima and Potosí: P. V. A. Our Cover Coin this time is a worthy 8-escudo piece from Lima dated 1711 (see reverse, p. 1).

In cooperation with the 1715 Fleet Society and its 300th Anniversary Commemoration of the loss of this famous Spanish fleet, Cover Coins, whenever possible over this and the next three issues, will be selected from the Society’s website study set. Next up is this ruggedly handsome piece-of-eight minted at the Mexico City facility and described

Apparently the successful buyer of this Lima 4E piece (Lot 15) in the recent Sedwick Treasure Auction #7 agreed with its description as the “FINEST KNOWN!” of its type, for it brought down the hammer at $18,400 (15% buyer’s fee included). This is the companion piece to the Lima 8E (Lot 10) from the Frank

In all its “crispness” of strike and “butter gold” beauty, this 27.1 g. piece from the fated Spanish treasure fleet of 1715 must be seen in a color photo or in-person for full appreciation! A fully-dated 1714 8-escudos from the Mexico City mint, its obverse exhibits a full shield, a 99.44% (essentially full) crown, and

This ruggedly handsome piece-of-eight was minted at the Mexico City facility. It’s a full date 1715 Mexico Eight Reales. 25.8 grams. Full and complete ‘OMJ’. All digits of date visible but not complete. Approximately 40% of shield visible … and extremely strong. Obverse hammer marks quite distinct, with one blunted corner visible. The blunted corner

Tying in our Cover Coin(s) with the debut of the 1715 Fleet Society story, we have selected three dated pieces from the sites of the 1715 Spanish Silver Fleet. These three pieces of gold are scheduled to be auctioned off at Sedwick’s “Treasure and World Coin Auction 11” coming up on April 10-11, 2012 (see

To wrap up this year’s issues, I thought it would be appropriate to pose two of the 2016 newsmakers as our Cover Coin(s) this time. From the State of Florida’s Collection of treasure coins recovered from the 1715 Plate Fleet come these two fully-dated pieces, which are displayed on the 1715 Fleet Society web site

In cooperation with the 1715 Fleet Society and its 300th Anniversary Commemoration of the loss of this famous Spanish fleet, Cover Coins, whenever possible over the next six issues, will be selected from the Society’s website study set. First up is this ruggedly handsome piece-of-eight minted at the Potosí facility and described on the 1715FleetSociety.com