(1116) Around and About: Volume 3 Issue 11: Last Revision: 04/01/08
My name is Rod Bates, and for those of you that don’t know me, I have spent the last 40 of my 48 years collecting, buying and selling coins. My principal numismatic interest is found “South of the Border” but I also piddle with some “Yankee” coins. Years ago, when surfing ruled my life; I began traveling to Mexico to enjoy the great year-round waves that broke on the Pacific side of the “Land of Manana”. When those flat summer months that plague Texas surfing were in play, my brother, a few friends and I would be in Mexico catching some hot barrels. While on those trips, I always explored my other areas of interest such as treasure hunting and snooping for old coins. Over the years I was able to develop some great contacts that produced a few rare Mexican coins and some lifelong friendships. So please stay with me as I tell the story of how I acquired this most rare War for Independence 1 Real of the Comandancia Militar Suriana, and why I feel that the attribution to the Southern Command may be proven to be in error at some time in the future.
Anyone who has spent much time at all in Mexico will be familiar with the old hacienda ruins that dot the landscape along the highways in almost every part of the country. Very early on I began to realize the possibility of metal detecting those old ruins for coins, tokens and militaria, and after a fortunate meeting with a friend of mine, Isidrio Berrveto, who resides in Saltillo, Coahuila, we began to do just that.
My friend “Chilo” as his friends call him, knows the central plateau of Mexico like his own backyard, so we researched possible productive sites and began to do some metal detecting. Bingo! Right off the bat we met with some great success, finding coins, tokens, military items and a variety of things lost to the dirt over the last 400 years. I had metal detected in Texas for years, so I knew how to properly use a metal detector better than most who beat us to some sites and that gave us an edge. On other sites we were the very first to metal detect and what an eye opening experience that was. Imagine being the first person to search an abandoned hacienda that dated back to the early 1600s! Wow, those were the days. Chilo put us on some fantastic spots and always with the owner’s permission.
Well in December of 1996 I got a phone call from Chilo and he told me that he had finally gained permission to metal detect a site we had wanted to hunt for several years. I called my friend and fellow metal detecting nut, Manuel Hinojosa from here in Port Isabel and we drove to Saltillo that night. Manuel is a history buff who is totally fascinated by the artifacts of the Mexican Army, especially during Santa Anna’s campaigns. The next morning before sun up we were on our way out into the desert to metal detect at Hacienda El Jarral, Coahuila. This now abandoned hacienda was an important watering hole on a major route through the desert that had been visited by every army from the Spanish to the French Intervention. Add to this mix the numerous traders and travelers that used this road and you have the important ingredients for a good day in the field. Two hours later we turned off the pavement and onto an unimproved trail through the desert that most Mexicans of the region will tell you with a straight face “Oh Si, este camino es muy bueno”, (Oh yes, the road is very good). Well two very rough hours and probably twenty cattle gates later we rounded the foot of a large hill and there on top of the next hill lay what was left of the old Hacienda El Jarral.
This Hacienda hunt would have been the trip of a lifetime to most I suppose, but at the end of the day we realized that someone else before us had hunted the spot. Mind you, our take was still outstanding, but not as good as we hoped. One pleasant surprise was a number of War for Independence artifacts that included a shako plate, several buttons, an officers Lion Head belt plate and several coins of the era from Zacatecas and the L.C.M. or La Comandancia Militar. This military command operated out of Monclova, Coahuila in Northern Mexico, and we have unearthed many coins locally produced by this authority. One of my first coins of the day at Jarral was an unlisted L.C.M. one quarter real token and that peaked my interest. We have dug several of these “Tokens” in War for Independence campsites around Saltillo so I was familiar with them. I believe this issue should be in the book right along side of the rest of the L.C.M. issues as they are found in every camp occupied by this command.
The day had started out fairly hot for December, even by Mexican standards, but 20 minuets after our arrival a “Blue Northern” with drizzly rain came roaring through the desert and dropped the temperature to a moist and chilly 38 degrees in less than 15 minuets! The reason I remember this so vividly is because all I had on were my blue jeans, a tee shirt and a blue jean jacket, the rest of my warmer clothes were left in Saltillo. Hindsight is indeed 20/20! After about an hour of standing on that hill in the open moisture charged wind I was so cold that I almost quit, but the thought occurred to me that we may never have a second chance at this place, so I elected to continue my efforts. This proved to be a wise decision. First, we never have been back to this hacienda due to a change in ownership before we could do a second hunt there, and secondly, I would not have dug perhaps the rarest War for Independence coin I have ever found!
As I was working a small ridge adjacent to the old corral my metal detector began giving me very frequent hits. Within a few minuets my take included several pillar and portrait real minors, a few military buttons and a pocket full of musket balls. In the middle of all this good fortune I got a strong coin signal on my machine, but upon digging it I was disappointed. It looked like a 1 real colonial coin worn so slick that it could not be identified, but before I placed it in my catch bag I gently brushed off some dirt to try to determine its age. I was unable to find a date, but it did seem to have been counter stamped, so I placed it in my safety tin just in case. We continued to hunt the rest of the day with similar results, good finds, but none of us found Santa Anna’s belt buckle or any treasure like that.
Right about dark we loaded up my little 4-wheel drive Toyota RAV-4 and began the 4-hour plus ride back to Saltillo. As we bounced through the first gate and hit slick mud I was glad we had “Double Traccion” as they say in the old country. Chilo was driving, so as soon as we had warmed up a tad, Manuel and I began to compare finds. All three of us had made some good finds and the general mood was upbeat as I fished around in my safe guarded best finds and came across that slick 1 real coin again. We find numerous counter stamped slick coins in Mexico, so I did not think too much of this particular coin as I began to remove the dirt from it with a soft toothbrush. As the 180 years of dirt began to come off, I noticed that I had never seen this counter stamp before, so I wrapped it in tissue paper and left it alone until we were at Chilo's house in Saltillo. Once there, I soaked it in very hot soapy water while we ate some well-deserved dinner. After dinner I grabbed the coin while Chilo got his copy of ‘The Standard Catalog of Mexican Coins’ by Bruce & Vogt. To my surprise, the remaining dirt and verdigris came off the coin easily, but I still did not know what this piece was. I waited my turn as Manuel and Chilo looked up the value of their coins in the catalog, a wrestling match that could last for hours. Finally, I asked to look up just one coin in the book, please. I never asked for the book, heck, up until now I had not needed to. I knew that book like the back of my hand, or so I thought. So when I asked for the book, both Chilo and Manuel were surprised and wanted to see what I had. Well, the last thing I wanted at that moment was help from these two novice coin guys. It would take twice as long, I was sure of that. So I said I needed the book because I might have found a rare War for Independence counter stamped coin and both of them dropped what they were doing and began to help me. Great.
Fortunately, I had made a drawing of the coin on a napkin in larger detail while they were using the book, so while they told me what the coin looked like, I began to explore the book for a match. I completely overlooked what I was looking for and thought I had one of the countless local hacienda counter stamped pieces, interesting, but not a big deal. Well about an hour later Manuel shouted, “Hey, I found your coin!” I proceeded to go over there and to politely show this coin novice why he was wrong, but to my surprise, he sort of wasn’t! Let me explain and attempt to save some of my dignity. First, the coin he was looking at had no photo in the book and secondly the specimen in the book was a 2 real, not a 1 real like my coin. However, to his credit, Manuel had totally ignored these basic facts and just read what the coin said, there by finding the coins identity! The type was listed and numbered as KM#289, with only 2 real denomination coins known. And the 2 real coins were unpriced! Always a good sign!
On the obverse of the coin was a circular counter stamp showing an early use of the Mexican Eagle/Snake symbol with the letters ‘S.C.M.’ which the book stated as an abbreviation of ‘Soberano Congreso Mexicano’.
The reverse had a simple block letter counter stamp ‘C.M.S.’ which KM interpreted as ‘Comandancia Militar Suriana’. Both sides matched the KM description perfectly and only the size was wrong. A worn colonial 2 real should weigh approximately 5 to 5.5 grams whereas this specimen in hand weighed in at only 2.3 grams, or roughly one half of the listed coin! I was beginning to believe we had an un-cataloged; un- listed Mexican War for Independence coin on our hands, a brand new 1 real discovery for the popular series. Thanks Manuel. I chose to go against KM and list the side with the Eagle as the obverse, a sort of shout out to my man Richard Long, and kudos old-timer!
Another small thing began to bug me within the KM description, but before I proceed, let me first say that I am in no way belittling this fine Herculean effort known as the Standard Catalog, I shudder to think where Mexican Numismatics would be without this fine book along with Utberg and Buttrey/Hubbard.
The thing that bothered me, and still does by the way, is the attribution to the ‘Southern’ command when this coin was found about as far to the north as you can go in Mexico and not be speaking Texican. Perhaps it is a stray that wondered North with some soldier, but none of the military items dug around it was of the Southern theatre type. No, this camp was “Purro Norteno”, including the L.C.M. pieces, known to be from the Monclova Command, and as far north as you can get in the Northern Theatre of the struggle for Independence from Spain. Let me instead offer one possible explanation for the ‘C.M.S.’ abbreviation. Could ‘Comandancia Militar de Saltillo’ or a similar rendition be considered? I personally feel this to be closer to the truth, and when I think of the volume of War for Independence items that my friends and I have dug around Saltillo, this direction might be in order if this most interesting mystery is ever solved. Does anyone know that the attribution of KM#289 is sound? Or was it an educated guess something like mine, but without the benefit of adjoining archeological information that can perhaps shed more light on its true origin. I will think of this issue as a Northern Command issue until someone changes my mind on it by showing concrete evidence for the Southern Command. I fully realize that I am arguing with god as related to Mexican Numismatics when I go against the firm opinion held by one of the most prestigious voices in our hobby for the last 30 plus years, i.e. the KM Catalog, but I think the circumstances of this coins discovery merit at least a fresh look, don’t you?
Here is another coin that Rod also found on this trip, this one remains in his personal collection...
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