Owner Comments:
Description:
This coin is an 8 Reales coin from the sunken treasure ship Sao Jose and is dated from the reign of King Phillip II.
DATE: 1589-1598
RULER: Phillip II
ASSAYER:F Francisco de Morales
OBVERSE:
Crowned arms. Mint mark and assayer's initial to the left, denomination to the right. Legend and date around crowned arms.
Legend: PHILLIPPVS . II . DEI . G .
Note: Legend not visible.
REVERSE:
Legend around cross in tressure, castles and lions in quarters.
Legend:
HISPANIARVM . ET . INDIARVM . REX
Note: Legend not visible.
1622 SHIPWRECK OF THE SAO JOSE':
Bound for Goa India, the Sao Jose' was the almiranta of a small fleet consisting of four ships that left Lisbon in 1622. The ship carried an impressive cargo--the legendary silver treasure of Philip III, King of Spain and Portugal for the Portuguese Empire and Francisco da Gama, great grandson of famed Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, to reign at his post as Viceroy of India. The shipment included nine chests filled with thousands of silver Reales coins produced in both the Old world and the New World mints of Mexico, Bolivia and Spain.
Setting out in haste, after learning of an impending British attack on the strategic island of Hormuz, the fleet was sailing up the Mozambique Channel when a combined fleet of Dutch and British ships of the East India Company attacked the Portuguese flotilla. The Sao Jose' was cut off from the rest of the fleet, surrounded by the enemy and attacked. Despite damage to her sails and spars, the Sao Jose' remained afloat. In a desperate attempt to escape, the ship ran into a shoal. The Sao Jose' met her demise grounded on a reef off the Mozambique coast, victim to a final assault by the Anglo-Dutch fleet. A reported 66,000 Spanish Reales were taken by the enemy, a small share of the total treasure aboard the ship, lost with some 300-400 passengers and crew as the vessel broke up and sank to the bottom of the Mozambique Channel.