1748-Mo MF 8 R Calico-471 N1 认证号14277221, PCGS号144752

1748 Mexico eight reales or "pillar dollar." Mexico City Mint, MF assayer. Genuine (PCGS). Glossy dark gray patina with no significant corrosion, just very minor surface granularity. Some very light raised specks are visible on the reverse. No digs or scratches are noted, indeed, this is one of the choicest of the Pillar dollars found amidst the wreckage of this shipwreck, most of which were heavily sea-worn and corroded. A similar example realized $1,150 in our June 2010 sale. Certified by PCGS as authentic and labeled on the holder with "1761 L'Auguste Shipwreck." Many collectors choose to include a Pillar dollar in their collection, but the acquisition of a piece such as this means that the Pillar dollar you include was verifiably in North America during the 18th century. The L'Auguste sank in November 1761, full of French-Canadian refugees heading to Europe after refusing to swear allegiance to George III of England. Canada had just been conquered by English forces under Amherst. Many of those aboard had never lived in France, but could not live under English control. The coins found aboard were their life savings, mostly in ecus and Pillar dollars, all of which were in circulation in Nouvelle France during the French and Indian War. The ship foundered off Nova Scotia, and only 7 of the more than 100 souls onboard survived. It is the only major French and Indian War shipwreck to yield salvaged coins, each of which have an incredible history. From the 1761 Wreck of L'Auguste.