Gold prospector's discovery in Aussie town linked to pirate folklore

Angus James was prospecting around the town of Stawell when he discovered the Mexican reales coin. Source: Gold Coins and Relics Australia

A piece of silver associated with pirate folklore has been extracted from a dig site in a quiet Australian town. Prospector Angus James was searching for treasure in Stawell, 237km northwest of Melbourne, when he found half a Mexican 8 reales coin.

“I first thought it might have been a half crown, but then I thought why is it cut in half? I was looking for the other half and couldn’t find it, so I took it home and washed it clean,” he told Yahoo News.

Mexican 8 reales were linked to the term “pieces of eight” because they were cut into quarters and traded for their weight in silver. Mexico originally used Spanish silver dollars, which carry the same nickname, but the nation created its own version in the 1820s following independence.

The first Spanish reales were struck in 1497, and the coin eventually became the preferred international currency, making it desirable to traders. On the other side of the world, in the colony of NSW, Governor Lachlan Macquarie ordered 40,000 of them in 1812, and refashioned them with new markings.

Spanish reales were used until 1869, and in Mexico until 1897. The currency captured the imagination of children around the world after it was featured in the novel, Treasure Island. The book featured a parrot named Captain Flint, who squawked the phrase “pieces of eight”.

The coin may have been cut in half to buy materials used during the Gold Rush. Source: Gold Coin and Relics Australia

Stawell is far from the ocean, and rather than being brought to Australia by a pirate, it's thought the Mexican reales coin was carried by a prospector. The coin was found among other items from the Victorian era, including British coins, and there are indications it was minted in the mid-1800s.

“There was an old campsite, and I was working around that. It’s a pretty rare find. I’ve never picked up anything like it in Australia,” Angus said.

“A prospector probably had it in his pocket when he came to Australia and traded half of it for some fossicking equipment.”

The Victorian Gold Rush began in 1851, just three years after the California Gold Rush, and both attracted people from all over the globe. Gold was first found in Stawell in the mid-1850s, but today the town is most famous for hosting the annual Stawell Gift, an annual running race that first began in 1878.

After Angus posted news of the find to his Gold Coins and Relics Australia social media account, there has been a lot of excitement. He has received several offers for the coin, including one of $400. But he plans to keep it in his personal collection.

“There’s always a lot of interest when it has history, to display it in museums and that sort of thing. I won’t clean it, and will keep it as is,” he said.

This article originally appeared on Yahoo News Australia at https://au.news.yahoo.com/aussie-gold-prospectors-rare-discovery-in-old-campsite-linked-to-pirate-folklore-060222434.html

Post Related