excuse if this is a repeat of info I haven't seen in reply to the
     original query, but:  if the coin is marked "CAR ?VS III" and "??IA"
     it is probably not British but rather one of the Spanish Colonies.
     What bothers me though is the 1790 date, as I believe Carolus III
     ended at 1788 and Carolus IV started 1789 (some Carolus IV coins are
     marked Carolus IIII but not until 1792 as I recall... anybody out
     there with a book on Spanish Colonial Coins?)  The "IA" is probably
     "DEI GRATIA"  I am familiar with a number of surface finds primarily
     from S California of Bolivian coins of this date range and I recall
     the 1/2 real piece is about the size of a nickle.  There was a 1/4
     silver real piece but this was quite rare.  Anyway, try to find a coin
     book with photos esp. of the reverse, ?  would it be a crown above
     arms btween pillars ? by chance?  Could be Chile, Peru, Bolivia or
     even Mexico
 
 
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: British Coin
Author:  HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY <[log in to unmask]> at unix.po
Date:    4/15/97 10:46 AM
 
 
A bit further afield in space and time, but Roman coins were pierced
and/or mounted as jewellery and are found in C5-C6 graves in Eastern
England.
 
 
Dr Matthew H Johnson
Dept of Archaeology
University of Durham
South Road
Durham DH1 3LE
U.K.
Tel 0191 374 4755
Fax 0191 374 3619
 
On Mon, 14 Apr 1997, BONNIE J. CLARK wrote:
 
> Mark C. Branstner wrote :
> > Second, I'm not convinced that Native Americans were the only folks punching
> > holes in coins or wearing them suspended from strings.  Within the past
> > decade, I recovered a punched, early nineteenth century German coin from a
> > farmstead site near Flint, Michigan.  For me, the most logical interpretatio
n
> > for the artifact was as an immigrant keepsake.
> >
> > Just a cautionary... but I think the assumption that any punched coin
> > represents Native American decorative use is too general.
>
> I would have to agree with Mark.  In Colorado we recovered a punched
> walking liberty quarter from a Hispanic nunnery. It still had a few links
> of the gold chain attached.
>
> Bonnie Clark
> [log in to unmask]
>