Gold cash recovered from the “world’s richest shipwreck”, the Spanish galleon San José, have revealed 300-year-old imagery together with castles, lions, and a Jerusalem cross variation. Found off Colombia’s Caribbean coast, the cash affirm the wreck’s id and supply a vivid glimpse into early 18th-century Spanish colonial wealth. The San José sank in 1708 throughout a battle with British warships, whereas loaded with as many as 200 tons of treasure now value an estimated $17 billion. The brand new data relies on the high-definition ROV imagery lately printed in Antiquity, which reveals the cash amongst the wreckage at a depth of virtually 2,000 ft.
Colonial Gold Cash from San José Shipwreck Confirmed to Originate from Peru’s Lima Mint in 1707
As per a report from Reside Science, the research was led by researchers from Colombia’s navy and the Institute of Anthropology and Historical past. The evaluation confirmed that the cash got here from the Lima mint, bearing Jerusalem-style crosses and the “Topped Pillars of Hercules above the ocean”, linking them to Peru’s colonial coin-minting custom and to the ill-fated San José galleon, utilizing colonial data.
The shipwreck’s treasure discovered by Colombia in 2015 has led to worldwide authorized battles, as Spain lays declare underneath maritime regulation. Colombia has not signed the treaty and plans to exhibit objects in a museum, however it could be legally prevented from promoting objects.
Examine lead writer Daniela Vargas Ariza described the cash as “macuquinas”—hand-cut, irregular colonial forex that when circulated broadly within the Americas. Each bit measured round 1.3 inches in diameter and weighed roughly 27 grams. Researchers discovered dozens of such cash embedded amongst cargo and weapons stays from the galleon’s ultimate voyage.
The San José exploded and sank after its gunpowder ignited throughout a cannon battle with British forces amid the Battle of the Spanish Succession. Only some ships within the Spanish fleet escaped, however the San José’s wreck now presents a singular archaeological window into colonial naval historical past and black-market economies of the time.
