Coin and Paper Money Collecting/egg timer

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Expert: - 11/10/2009


Question
i have an egg timer about 5inches tall on one end it has VTRAQUE VNUM M 1739 ON THE OTHER END IT HAS HISPANIA RVM REX 1636 WITH A CREST WITH 2 LIONS AND 2 CASTLE COULD YOU PLEASE TELL MR ANYTHING ABOUT IT PLEASE

Answer

8 reales coins
Hi Eve,
What an interesting piece. There is a long tradition of crafting coins into everyday items.
The pieces you describe are Spanish and Spanish colonial designs, much like the coins in the picture I have attached.
Typical examples in decent condition are worth a couple hundred dollars each, while nice examples can easily be double that.
Since they were used in a crafted item, they may have some damage. In addition, newer items will not have genuine coins, but will use replicas. These coins were already valuable in the early 1900's. If your egg timer is a pre-1900 hourglass type object, then the coins may in fact be genuine.
If you post a follow-up question with a picture I can be of much more help.
Please don't forget to rate this answer.
Thanks for the question! =)
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Dmitry Livshits

Expertise

My specialty is world coins from the 18th to 20th centuries, primarily non-US foreign coins and related areas such as errors and exonumia (tokens, medals, etc.). I can answer questions relating to identification, grading, selling, preservation and evaluation of such items. In addition to catalog value, I can give you the practical market value and trends for specific types of coins. I will also take questions regarding counterfeits (both modern and antique) and on how to identify them. I am NOT knowledgeable in paper money/banknotes, ancient or "shipwreck" coins. Thank you.

Experience

Collector of world coins since early childhood. Access to a variety of auction records and reference material. You can also find me on Facebook.

Education/Credentials
A.S. in Psychology (2006), B.A. in Forensic Psychology (2008), M.A. in Forensic Psychology (2011).

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