Rare Spanish Coin Unearthed
- Philip Thibodeau
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
It was not the first time, Val Guarino, president of the Southington Conservation Land Trust, had taken his metal detector out on Land Trust properties to see what he could find. Often enough he came home empty-handed; occasionally he would find a something interesting, like an old tool. "I once found a metal file," he remarked. "That was about it."
Two weeks ago, however, his search led to the discovery of something special. He was sweeping an area that had recently been exposed by mowing. The detector made its characteristic ping, indicating that it sensed metal underground. Digging down a few inches, Guarino found a silvery disc about the size of a poker chip. He rubbed off some of the dirt and realized that he had found a coin.
Removing the rest of the dirt revealed lettering. Circling a worn and damaged silhouette on the 'heads' side of the coin were the letters DEI GRATIA 1800 CAROLVS IIII, which is Latin for 'By the grace of God, 1800, Charles/Carlos the Fourth."
On the 'tails' side (see the headline photo) was an elaborate coat of arms flanked by two pillars and surrounded by the letters HISPAN ET IND REX M 8R FM.
The first four words are short for Hispaniarum et Indiarum Rex, which means 'King of Spain and the Indies' in Latin. In other words, this was a Spanish coin. Finally, the 8R clinched the identification of the piece: it stands for 'eight Reales', and indicates that the coin was what characters in pirate movies refer to when they mention 'pieces of eight.'
The significance of the number 1800 is thus obvious: it is the year when the coin was minted - over two centuries ago, when Southington was a mere 21 years old.
But what do the other letters stand for? And what was this coin doing in Southington in the first place? For more information on the piece, the Outsider reached out to Dave Wnuck. Wnuck is a coin dealer with an expertise in early American coins, and the founder of Dave Wnuck Numismatics in Wallingford. He graciously shared the following information on Guarino's find.
"What you found is an 1800-Mo FM 8 Reales. The 'M' stands for Mexico City, where the coin was minted."
"'FM' are the initials of the assayer at the Mexico City mint. This is the person ultimately responsible to make sure the coins made at the mint under his direction had the proper amount of silver in each coin."
"The coin was legal tender in Southington (and the rest of America) and circulated alongside the US coins being minted at the Philadelphia mint. In fact, all foreign coins were legal tender in the US until 1857."
"We were not a wealthy nation in 1800 by any means, so we didn't/couldn't make enough coins for daily transactions throughout the young nation. So, a Southington resident in 1800 was much more likely to have a foreign coin in their pocket than a coin made in the USA, especially coins from Mexico. The Mexican 8 reales was the US Dollar of its day, and preferred by most countries in the world for trade purposes."
"In 1800, a Mexican 8 reales coin - commonly known as a Spanish dollar or 'piece of eight' - had a spending power equivalent to one United States dollar. A single 8 reales coin represented significant value, as a dollar in 1800 was equivalent to about $20 to $30 in 2026 purchasing power. In the US around 1800, one Spanish dollar could buy either 6 pounds of butter, 1 bushel of wheat, 4 quarts of whiskey, 2.5 bushels of corn, or 300 pounds of hay."
"The 8 reales coin was equal to eight 'bits' or reals, and was often split into smaller pieces to make change, which is the origin of the term "two bits" for a quarter."
"The US Dollar was directly based on this Spanish coin, and the Spanish dollar was the primary currency for trade. The '$' symbol is believed to be derived from the S-shaped banner wrapped around the Pillars of Hercules on the coin's design."
As for the location of the discovery, Guarino is keeping that confidential in order to prevent a swarm of treasure-seekers from descending on the property. In fact, this coin was an isolated find, which means that it probably slipped out of someone's purse two-centuries ago, rather than being part of a buried horde.
After all those years in the cold dirt, the coin will now have a nicer home - though Guarino has not yet decided whether that will be the Land Trust office or the Southington Historical Society.
