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Shipwreck Coins!

Owner:  Von Werner
Last Modified:  4/14/2023
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Slot: Sao Jose Shipwreck 1622
Origin/Country: Mexico Portuguese ship 1622
Design Description: 8 Reales Cob
Item Description: Silver REALES SPAIN 8 (1556-1622) M06.003/05/2074.011
Grade: NGC SHIPWRECK EFFECT
Research: View Coin
Owner Comments
Portugal and Spain were United under one king in 1622. A small combined fleet were sailing to India laden with chests of silver Reales when the Sao Jose was ambushed by a combined fleet of British and Dutch. The ship attempted a get away but slammed into a reef off Mozambique and sank. The British and Dutch were able to salvage 66,000 Reales at the time.

She was rediscovered by a Portuguese marine archeology group in May 2005 and 24,000 silver Reales were brought to the surface.
Slot: La Dromadaire Shipwreck 1761
Origin/Country: FRANCE - PART 3 France 1737-1739
Design Description: Ecu
Item Description: Silver ECU 1737(9) DAV-1330
Grade: NGC GENUINE
Research: View Coin
Owner Comments
Nice shipwreck coin of a large silver French Ecu from the shipwreck La Dromadaire. La Dromadaire was a French East India Company vessel that was carrying 144 people and a chest of silver when she got lost in harsh weather fog and slammed into a reef off St Vincent, near Cape Verde. It was late 1761. The ship broke in two and 77 survivors were rescued by a Dutch ship.

The wreck was found on January 22, 1996 during a survey of St Vincent. Along with the chest, 19 cannons were recovered.

Coins of this wreck tend to be a bit rough, but the quantity of salvaged coins attributed to this wreck is very low as it was only carrying one chest!
Slot: El Cazador Shipwreck 1783
Origin/Country: MEXICO - TO 1823 Mexico City 1783
Design Description: Charles III 8 Reales
Item Description: Silver 8R 1783MO FF MO EL CAZADOR
Grade: NGC GENUINE
Research: View Coin
Owner Comments
The El Cazador was a Spanish Brig loaded with 37,500 pounds of silver, mostly 8 Reales, en route from Veracruz Mexico to the Spanish colony of Louisiana in 1784, when she disappeared. Then, in 1993, a fishing trawler out of Mississippi fishing in the gulf snagged something. When the nets were hoisted, they were loaded with silver coins. The wreck of the El Cazador was discovered accidentally by fishermen. The reasons behind the wreck are still unknown. This is a nice example of a 1783 8 Reale minted in Mexico City.
Slot: Admiral Gardner Shipwreck 1809
Origin/Country: INDIA - BRITISH
Design Description:
Item Description: 10CASH 1808 MADRAS PRESIDENCY (4.7g) Admiral Gardner
Grade: NGC GENUINE
Research: View Coin
Owner Comments
The Admiral Gardner was a British East India Company ship returning from India and carrying a number of chests of copper 10 and 20 cash coins. She broke free from her moorings and wrecked January 24, 1809 on Goodwin Sands in the North Sea, about 6 miles off the coast of Kent, England. The wreck was discovered in 1984 and a number of coins were recovered in 1985. The site was designated under the protections of wrecks act on May 5, 1985.
Slot: SS New York Shipwreck 1846
Origin/Country: United States
Design Description: HALF DOLLARS - CAPPED BUST, LETTERED EDGE
Item Description: 50C 1829 SS NEW YORK
Grade: NGC SHIPWRECK EFFECT
Research: View Coin
Owner Comments
New York was a steamship built in 1837 for the New York and Charleston Steam Packet Company, a partnership started by James P. Allaire, John Haggerty, and Charles Morgan. Originally put into packet service between New York City and Charleston, South Carolina, New York later served ports in along the Gulf of Mexico. New York was destroyed in the Gulf of Mexico by a hurricane on 7 September 1846. She was carrying a large quantity of branch mint gold, as well as US silver coins and Mexican and South American silver coins.

The wreck was discovered and recovered in the late 1990’s.
Slot: SS Republic Shipwreck 1865
Origin/Country: United States
Design Description: HALF DOLLARS - SEATED LIBERTY
Item Description: 50C 1861 O SS REPUBLIC W-06 Louisiana Issue
Grade: NGC
Research: View Coin
Owner Comments
The SS Republic was en route from New York on October 18, 1865, bound for New Orleans to deliver much needed hard currency that the south was lacking after the Civil War. She was carrying passengers and $400,000 in coins.

On October 25, she ran into a hurricane off the coast of Savannah, Georgia. The crew and passengers managed to escape to lifeboats but at 4pm, the ship sank in 1700 feet of water, taking all of the cargo down with her. The passengers fought through the storm and the vast majority were rescued 2 days later.

In August, 2003, the wreck was located and about 25% of the coins were salvaged.
Slot: SS John Barry Shipwreck 1944
Origin/Country: SAUDI ARABIA
Design Description:
Item Description: Silver RIYAL AH1354(1935) Saudi Arab Philadelphia Mint
Grade: NGC GENUINE
Research: View Coin
Owner Comments
The SS John Barry, loaded with silver Saudi Riyals minted in Philadelphia were destined for payment for American oil operations in Saudi Arabia. The Liberty ship was torpedoed by German U-Boat U859 off the coast of Oman on August 28, 1944, bringing her entire cargo to the bottom, 1.6 miles below the surface. Her cargo remained classified until 1984!

Between October 21 and November 18, 1994, a deep sea salvage operation recovered a quantity of these Riyals.
Rumors flew that the vessel was loaded with gold bars that had been loaded secretly at its previous stop in Egypt, but no documents supported this. Regardless, a ridiculous amount of money was poured into the recovery by a Saudi Sheik but an exhaustive search only discovered the Riyals!

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