Philip IV-Charles II Plugged/Regulated Cob 2 Reales ND (1652-1701) Good (Corrosion, Plugged), Potosi mint. 27mm. 11.19gm. From the 1711 Feversham shipwreck. A Philip IV or Charles II 2 Reales, raised to 4 Reales with two small plugs and a larger central one for circulation in Colonial North America. Despite the heavy corrosion, a faint assayer E or F is still visible to the right of the curious rectangular plug with deliberately engraved lines that fortunately weren't much affected by the saltwater. Definitely a seldom-seen US colonial type, even scarcer in such denomination. Sunk off Scatarie Island (Nova Scotia) in 1711, the HMS Feversham sailed from New York escorting a British fleet to attack Quebec, when coming too close to rocks set her demise. The invasion itself was ruined due to the entire fleet being sunk by storms, with no successful attempts on salvaging the wreck. In the 1960's, treasure hunters begun salvaging what came to be proven as the 1711 wreck. The Feversham carried an important cargo, dubbed the "merchant's hoard", including everyday coins of early North America, such as regulated Spanish types and New England coinages. These regulated cob survivors illustrate how the Spanish coins were adjusted to the New York trade standards, with the Feversham remaining the sole source for shipwreck cobs with obvious silver plugs to adjust the coin's weight. Ex. Stack's (January 1999, Lot 1189)

HID09801242017

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