Circa 2003. While digging out a stock tank from a site near Lake Worth, Texas (which is located in Tarrant County), a dirt contractor unearthed an old burlap bag buried nearly 10 feet beneath the tank. The bag - which was well over 100 years old - literally turned to dust once exposed to air. Within it was a most unusual find; a hoard of Mexican Cap & Ray 8 reales "silver dollars!" Given the date range and condition of the coins, it is likely that the hoard was buried around 1889.

Though 8 Reales were the mainstay of commerce in the United States from the mid 1700s into the early 1800s, American silver dollars had come into widespread use by the 1850s. Because of this, the U.S. government passed an act in 1857 that demonetized foreign coinage - which included 8 Reales - and removed their legal tender status in the United States. While it wasn't illegal to continue using foreign coinage following this act, these coins no longer had to be accepted in trade for goods or services. This led to the mass melting of 8 Reales still in circulation.

This Tarrant County, Texas find is historically significant because it offers tangible proof that "Mexican Silver Dollars" were still freely circulating in Texas into the late 1800s despite the fact they were not deemed legal tender by the Federal Government.

One could speculate that there might have still been a shortage of U.S. silver dollars in this region during the mid to late 1800s, so Mexican-struck coinage was still needed for commerce. Another explanation could be that resentment still existed between the South and the Federal Government (located in the North) following the Civil War (1861-1865), so Southern states such as Texas ignored the government's wishes. Either way, this hoard is a unique time-capsule that showcases one of the most important silver coins in circulation in the United States during the 19th century.