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“Mistake” Nets Fortune in Shipwreck Silver from the El Cazador
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Country:
Mexico |
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Date:
1783 or earlier |
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Metal:
Silver |
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Purity:
.903 |
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Denomination:
8
Reale |
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Weight:
27.7 g approx |
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Diameter:
39 mm approx |
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Condition:
Ship Wreck |
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Obverse:
King of Spain, Charles III
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Reverse:
Crown and shield between two pillars
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Packaging:
Capsule, Black Display card |
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Captain Jerry Murphy didn’t know fishing would land him a spot in history. That’s because Murphy’s fishing boat, “The Mistake,” landed its greatest catch when Murphy netted what he thought were rocks while trawling south of Louisiana. To his surprise, those “rocks” were pure silver Spanish 8 Reales—genuine antiquities from Colonial America! Known as “Pieces of Eight” for their 8 Reales denomination, they were America’s first silver dollars—the very type of coins that jingled in the pockets of our forefathers. Not only did Murphy mistakenly discover a fortune in silver shipwreck coins, he also solved the 200-year-old mystery of the lost “El Cazador” shipwreck!
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