It’s been a minute since I last shared one of my thrift store tales .. But trust me, this one’s worth the wait. A while back, I picked up a box of buttons .. Yep, you heard that right, buttons .. from this quirky little thrift store in Cape May, New Jersey. I know, it sounds like an odd purchase, but if you’ve been following my adventures, you know I always snagged some weird and wonderful stuff from that place. It’s not your typical store, more like a treasure chest that’s always shifting its loot. I’d swing by once or twice a month, and somehow, I never saw the same things twice.
On one of my many visits .. I spotted this smelly old box shoved in a corner. It reeked like it’d been sitting in a damp basement for decades, but something about it pulled me in. When I peeked inside, it was a jackpot of oddities mixed in with a sea of buttons. I’ve already posted about some of the goodies I found in there a few years back: a vintage fishing reel, a Ford Model T key, a downright creepy witch marionette doll, and a bone Chinese puzzle ball. Strange? Absolutely. Cool? You bet.
But the real magic happened when I dug a little deeper. There, nestled at the very bottom of this button hoard, was something I wasn’t expecting: an 1804 Silver Mexican 8 Reales Carolus Carlos IIII coin (that's a mouth full). Picture a coin about the size of a US silver dollar, well-worn from years of circulation but still showing off some seriously beautiful details. I couldn’t believe my luck!
Now, let’s talk about what makes this coin extra special .. It’s covered in chop marks. At first, I had no clue what those little stamps were all about, so I did what any curious collector does: I hit the research trail. Turns out, chop marks are these small impressions left by merchants or bankers to verify a coin’s authenticity. Back in the 18th and 19th centuries, especially in places like China and Southeast Asia, silver coins like this one were big in trade. To make sure they weren’t fakes, folks would test the silver and leave their mark .. sometimes a simple punch, sometimes a fancy symbol or even Chinese characters tied to a specific merchant or bank. Each mark is like a fingerprint from its travels.
I went down a total rabbit hole researching this stuff. The more I learned, the more fascinated I got. I mean, think about it, this coin didn’t just sit in someone’s pocket; it crisscrossed markets, passed through countless hands, and got stamped every time someone wanted to double-check it was the real deal. I tried counting all those chop marks once, but I kept losing track around 80. Eighty! How many times did this thing need to be verified? It cracks me up just thinking about it.
This 1804 8 Reales isn’t just another coin .. It’s a storyteller. Despite all the wear, you can still see the craftsmanship in its design, and those chop marks? They’re like a roadmap of its wild journey. It’s incredible to hold something that’s been around for over two centuries, bouncing from one corner of the world to another.
It’s safe to say this beauty has earned a permanent spot in my collection. I don’t think I’ll be parting with it anytime soon.. Not because of its dollar value (though that’s a nice bonus), but because of what it represents. It’s a reminder of that smelly box of buttons, that funky thrift store in Cape May, and the thrill of finding something unexpected in the most unlikely places.
Keep digging through those dusty corners. You never know when a pile of buttons might hide a piece of history just waiting to be discovered!
