Metal detectorist Travis Nichols has made a remarkable discovery on Nantucket’s south shore, unearthing a rare 1782 silver Spanish one-reale coin. This find, reported by the Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror, adds to Nichols’ extensive collection of over 300 historic coins. Known for his community efforts in helping neighbors recover lost jewelry and metal objects, Nichols described the discovery as an ‘amazing feeling.’ He believes the coin, marked with signs of being minted in Mexico City, traveled from the Americas to New England before ending up on Nantucket.
Nichols, who previously found a historic penny at the same site, plans to continue exploring the area for more potential treasures, joining a growing list of metal detectorists who have uncovered ancient coins this year. Other notable finds include Marius Mangeac in Romania, who uncovered 1,469 ancient Roman coins, and a group of friends in Poland who discovered pots filled with coins and hundreds of grams of gold during a search for German V-2 rockets.