them with minted coins, the machinery for which had been 

 shipped to Mexico in 1732. 



These new coins bore the well-known Pillars of Hercu- 

 les on one side and the laureated bust of the ruler on the 

 opposite. They later became known by collectors as "Pil- 

 lar dollars." The divers found only a few of these on the 

 wreck, the bulk of the coins recovered being the cruder 

 "cobs." They even found some rare pieces of four. 



I inquired where the word "cob" had originated. 



"It came from 'cabo de barra,' " Pete said, "which 

 means 'cut from a bar.' It was called a piece of eight be- 

 cause it possessed the equivalent value of eight reales." 



He told us that the melted gold doubloon wliich had 

 been found was probably also a "cob" rather than a milled 

 coin, for although before 1679 all gold from the New World 

 was shipped to Spain in bulk and minted there, from that 

 date until 1732, doubloons were struck in "cob" form in 

 Mexico. The new machinery of 1732 had made it possible 

 to issue the fine-appearing milled doubloons which are so 

 much more common today. 



Ed later performed an interesting experiment which 

 satisfied him as to the scarcity of the 1732 pieces of eight. 

 Wherever he went in Europe or the United States, he 

 dropped in at coin collectors' shops asking for Spanish 

 pieces of eight of that date. Never was he able to find any. 

 Several times he was told that if he would leave his name 

 and address, the dealer would attempt to get one for him. 

 He was warned that if any could be located, they would be 

 very costly. Ed did not need to worry. He never heard from 

 any of these dealers again. 



When we returned to the keys in the summer of 1953, 

 we headed straight for Art McKee's newly completed 

 Museum of Sunken Treasure, which he had designed to 

 house his rapidly multiplying underwater finds. 



The Florida Keys 95 



