17th century Spanish coin found in ‘Diamond Don’s RV Park’

A couple staying at a motorhome resort in Marion County, Texas recently made a surprise discovery–with origins dating back nearly 350 years. While casually scanning the grounds of Diamond Don’s RV Park roughly 165 miles east of Dallas, David Durocher and his partner stumbled on a well-preserved Spanish Maravedis coin minted in 1661. But speaking with local news outlet KLTV, Durocher explained the currency’s historical significance wasn’t immediately apparent. 

“We were sitting outside the trailer here and I was going through the stuff that we had been detecting and for some reason she went over by the car,” he recounted on June 17. “A few minutes later she came back and handed me this thing.”

At first glance, Durocher thought the find was simply a discarded car wash token. However, a closer look confirmed the coin’s origins traced back nearly 247 years before the Ford Model-T’s 1908 debut.

“Man, this is a Spanish 8 Maravedis! Where did it come from?” he added.

Although this coin’s specific provenance remains unknown, true “Maravedi” coins date as far back over nine centuries. Initially minted using gold and silver, Maravedis are actually based on the gold dinar created by the Emir of Córdoba Abd-ar-Rahman III (912–969 CE). By the 11th century, Christian rulers across Portugal, Castille, and León had adopted their own variants known as morabitino or maravedí.

Following Spain’s arrival to the Americas, the kingdom began minting copper Maravedis in the early 1500s specifically for distribution among its colonies. By the discovery’s minting in 1661, Spain was relying on the bayous near present-day Marion County for trade and transport routes. 

The exact details of Durocher’s 8 Maravedis remains unclear, but it’s likely one of the 6.6 gram variants, featuring a portrait of King Philip IV, Spain’s monarch from 1621-1665 CE. Regardless, it’s not worth all that much more than when it was created almost 350 years ago. According to the assessment of Durocher’s fellow coin collector, the Spanish 8 Maravedis find is likely worth around $5.25 in today’s currency. But even before knowing its worth, KLTV noted that RV park owner Diamond Don himself, Don Rainey, congratulated the coin’s discoverers and agreed to the age-old “finder’s keepers” rule.

 

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