Owner Comments:
DESCRIPTION
Date: 1783
RULER: Charles III
ASSAYER: FF-Francisco de la Pena / Francisco Arance Cobos
WEIGHT: 26.9g.
THE 1784 SHIPWRECK OF THE EL CAZADOR
The coin shown above was recovered from the EL CAZADOR, a Spanish brigantine of war. On October 20, 1783 it was sent by Charles III of Spain on a mission to bring much needed hard currency to the Spanish colony of Louisiana. The ship sailed to Vera Cruz Mexico where it was loaded with silver coins. On January 11, 1784, it sailed for the port of New Orleans and was never heard from again.
On August 2,1993, the trawler Mistake, while fishing in the Gulf of Mexico fifty miles south of New Orleans, hung it's net on a snag. The trawler was captained by Jerry Murphy, and it's home port was Pascagoula, Mississippi. When the crew finally hoisted their net and dumped the contents on the deck, they found the net was filled with silver coins. All of the coins bore markings from the Spanish mint in Mexico, along with the date 1783.
The treasure of the El Cazador, consisting of over 400,000 Spanish 8 Reales and an equal amount of smaller denomination Spanish colonial coins from the Mexico City mint, was intended to stabilize the Spanish monetary system in colonial North America. Her loss contributed to Spain's eventual conveyance of Louisiana to France's Napoleon in 1800. The rest is history, as three years later in 1803, Napoleon of France sold Louisiana to the United States, instantly doubling the size of the country.
We may never know what mysterious force sank her, but it is certain that her lost treasure holds the key to the birth of the nation we know today.
Just Imagine what would of happened if this ship hadn't sunk and made it to Louisiana. America might have become a Spanish country and not at all what it is today..........