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SUNKEN SHIPS- COINS AND TREASURE FROM THE DEEP
By: Xavier Pique
Sunken Treasure-• 3/4 ths of Earth is covered by water
• Sunken Ships Found in every Ocean, Lake and River
•Over 100,000 documented shipwrecks in the World
• Provide Glimpse into History of maritime trade routes
• Valuable items found
• Gold and Silver bars
• Artifacts- Pots, Dishes, Amphorae
• Navigation Instruments
• Wooden Ships preserved in deep cold waters
• Cargo is often salvaged by Salvage outfits
Presentation will cover:• Overview of 3 principal trade routes and maps
• Ancient and modern Shipwrecks
•Phoenician- 500 BC
•Seleukid Empire- 300 BC
•Spanish New World 1500-1820’s
•American Civil War- 1865
• Types of ships
• Types of coins and treasure found in each
• Cleaning and Preservation of Shipwreck coins
Chart of Shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea- By Location, Number, and Age
Phoenician Trade Routes- Commerce by Sea as early as 750 BC
Phoenician Ship- 450 BC “Cambridge” –
Joint Venture- Odyssey Marine/ British Navy Museum
Phoenician Ship 800 BC Stone Carving
Phoenecian Ship- Stone Carving 1st Century AD
The scientists believe the ships were lost in a violent storm while traveling from Phoenicia (now Lebanon) to Egypt or Carthage in about 750 BC laden with a cargo of wine stored in ceramic amphorae.
•Phoenician Ship- 750 BC – Coast of Israel 1000 Ft deep
•By Robert Ballard/ National Geographic
• Cargo of Wine- No Coins
Phoenician Ship- 450 BC “Cambridge” –
Joint Venture- Odyssey Marine/ British Navy Museum
Phoenicia- Sidon 4th Cent BC BC. AR 1/2 Shekel (0.73 gm). Galley to left over waves / Deity on chariot
Phoenicia- Sidon 372-358 BC. AR 1/16 Shekel (0.73 gm). Galley to left over waves / Persian king slaying lion; Phoenician AB between.
Phoenicia One-eighth Shekel ca. 4th century b.c.
Phoenician Silver Didrachm of Tyre, circa 360 BC era
Phoenicia, Arados (c.350-332 BC), AR Stater, 10.02g, VF/VF, $220
Phoenicia, Byblos, 400-330 BC, AR 1/8th shekel - sea monster (hippocamp)
Hispania, GadesHispania, Gades(Cadiz) AE Quadrans, 100-20 BC(Cadiz) AE Quadrans, 100-20 BC
Ob:Ob: Head of Herakles/Melqart in lionskin left, club behind Head of Herakles/Melqart in lionskin left, club behindRv:Rv: Dolphin with trident swimming left, Phoenician/Punic Dolphin with trident swimming left, Phoenician/Punic
scriptscript
Bronze- 1st Century BC, Phoenicia-Tyre
Carthage Gold Coin- 341 BC-
City in the Phoenician Trade route
Ancient Map or Die Crud?
Mark McMenamin http://phoenicia.org/america.htmlNovember 1996 issue of The Numismatist
Ancient Greece- Seleucid Kingdom 300 BC
Slave-powered galley for transporting armies
330 BC
Ancient Greece – Seleucid Kingdom
Ancient Greece – Seleucid Kingdom 312- 64 BC
Ancient plate depicting Greek Merchant ship
Seleukid Kingdom- Antiochos VII (138-129 B.C.) Israel-
Silver Tetradrachms- Shipwreck
SELEUKID KINGDOM, Antiochos VIII. 121-114/3 BC (Struck 116/5 BC). AR Tetradrachm (27mm, 10.1g) Shipwreck Coin. This is one of the nicer examples known to exist.
SELEUKID KINGDOM, Antiochos VIII. 121-114/3 BC (Struck 116/5 BC). AR Tetradrachm All known examples are shipwreck finds and have similar porosity and low weight.
SELEUKID KINGS - ALEXANDER I (BALAS) (c. 150-145 BC), AR Drachm, VF+/VF+, $155 (Not from Shipwreck)
Seleucid Kingdom, Antiochos VIII Bronze
SELEUKID KINGDOM, Antiochus VIII. 121-96 BC BronzeSELEUKID KINGDOM, Antiochus VIII. 121-96 BC Bronze
Athens, Attica New Style AR Tetradrachm (RARE- 3 Graces, shipwreck find)
Obverse: Athena ParthenosReverse: Owl on amphora; above AΘΣ; third magistrates name ΦAVO KPI ; on amphora, month-letter I; beneath, initials of the Laurium silver mines 9ΔI; to right of owl three graces, the whole within olive leaf.
Detail from Athens Tetradrachm and actual amphorae on sea bottom at shipwreck
Shape of amphora is used to determine time of shipwreck
++Nuestra Senora de Atocha-Florida 1622Nuestra Senora de Atocha-Florida 1622
THE KINGDOM OF SPAIN-
• Dominated the seas
•Colonized the New World- Columbus Voyage 1492
• From 1500 until 1820’s- Ran 2 fleets a year
• 300 YEARS of removing wealth from Americas
• Finance the expansion, wars, and the royal way of life
• Established a system of sea routes and commerce
The Atocha Treasure• Found by Mel Fischer in 1985 off Florida Keys
• 40 tons of gold and silver bars
• 100,000 Spanish silver coins known as "Pieces of Eight”
• Gold Coins
• Emeralds
• 8 Bronze Cannons
• Only half of the cargo found so far
• Most of Emeralds on board not found
2 escudos gold- seville mint- Atocha
8 Reales- Silver- From the Atocha
8 Reales Philip III- Silver. From Atocha
8 reales silver- Potosi mint 1619 Atocha
Gold bars from the Atocha
Gold Bar Detail- From Atocha
http://www.atochatreasures.com/RareAtochaCoins.htm
Museum key west- Silver Bars from Spanish Wreck
Silver Artifacts and coins from Spanish Shipwrecks
http://www.mexp.biz/photos.htmlCoin die – From Spanish Shipwreck
Emeralds and Jewelry from the Atocha
Rosary Cross with 9 Emeralds- From Atocha
The SS Republic- Georgia The SS Republic- Georgia 18651865
• Steel- Hulled Steam Ship 59 passengers
• Decommissioned Warship “Tennessee”
• Sank in Hurricane Oct. 25, 1865 off Savannah, GA
• Carried Cargo From New York headed to New Orleans
• $400,000 in Gold and Silver Coins
• Reconstruction Funds
• Recovered by Odyssey Marine 2003
Route of SS Republic- 1865New York to New Orleans
1852 Coronet Head 20 Dollar Double Eagle- Before Conservation
Numismatic Conservation Services (NCS) and Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) have been awarded an exclusive contract to perform conservation, grading and encapsulation of these coins for the numismatic market
1865 Coronet Head 20 Dollar Double Eagle
1854 Coronet Head 20 Dollar Double Eagle
1860 Half Dollar- Silver
1861-O Half Dollar- From SS Republic
1854-O $20 Coronet Gold - shipwreck of the S.S. Republic, NGC graded AU-58. Highest known sold by private treaty in late 2004 for $675,000.
THE END
The “Black Swan”- Nuestra Senora de la Mercedes-
The S.S. Republic also carried 59 passenger, thousands of bottles of everything from pickled fruit to stomach bitters, and various other cargo from New York to New Orleans when it sank in a hurricane off Savannah, Georgia, on October. 25, 1865, according to newspaper accounts and other historical
records. Lucky all 62 passengers aboard the four life boats and 2 out of the 18
passengers on a makeshift raft were rescued by passing ships, but the coins that was intended to help pay for reconstruction of the South after the Civil
War went to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean with the Republic. The ship was initially name the SS Tennessee, and was later changed to the SS Republic in
1865.Odyssey's last big haul was in 2003, when it salvaged more than 50,000 coins and other artifacts worth $75 million from the SS Republic off Savannah, Ga. "That was only a tenth of the material that's been brought up here." Bruyer continued.
Another interesting aspect of this site is that the thirteenth-century shipwreck is not the only shipwreck found there. Partly underlying the Pisa Wreck is a Byzantine wreck dated to the eleventh century. Among the excavated items from the wreck is a coin assemblage dating to the rule of Emperor Nicephorus III Botaneiates (1078-1081). Also found on the site are two types of amphorae dating to the same period. Dr. Zelenko hypothesizes that the amphorae contained oil and were produced in the northern Black Sea region. This season's excavations hopefully will reveal more about this vessel and its cargo.
Novy Svet, Ukraine Shipwreck- Black Sea -1078 AD
Byzantine Nicephorus III Anonymous AE Follis
Byzantine Nicephorus III (AD 1078-1081) Anonymous AE FollisObverse: Christ facing, wearing nimbus cross, pallium and colobium, raising right hand in benediction; scroll in left
hand, IC to left, XC to right Reverse: Latin cross with X at centre, and globule and two pellets at each extremity, floral ornament in lower field on
either side, crescent in upper field on either side Catalog: Sear 1889, Class: 1, Size: 24mm
Full name: Nikephoros III Botaneiates or Nicephorus III Botaniates
Black Sea -Bulgaria Ancient Greek Shipwreck- 4th Cent BC
Researchers announced today their discovery of the shipwrecked remains of an ancient trading vessel over 2,300 years old that sank in the Black Sea off the coast of present-day Bulgaria. The vessel dates to the 5th to 3rd century B.C., an era known to scholars as the classical period of ancient Greece—the time of Plato when Athens reached the height of power and Zeus was believed to rule the celestial firmament. The shipwreck is the oldest ever found in the Black Sea. It joins a relatively small handful of other known shipwrecks of the Greek period... Hiebert postulates that the ship may have begun its journey on the south coast of the Black Sea, sailed north across the sea following prevailing currents to the Crimean peninsula, where it loaded its amphora with freshwater catfish, then sailed west along the northern coast of the Black Sea bound for Greece. "This allows us to construct an idea of what Black Sea trade would have been like in the 5th to 4th century B.C.,"
Lake Erie- USA
•Mostly Commercial Cargo (Coal, Iron,
City Of Concord: Wooden steamer of 144 ft sank in a gale 9/27/1906 near Point Pelee
1904 Morgan $1 Silver- (Not from shipwreck)
1904 Liberty Head $20 Gold (Not from Shipwreck)
NJ Nessen- Lake Erie 1929
1928 $1 Silver
1928 St Gaudens $20 Gold
There are an estimated 4,700 shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, including about 500 on Lake Ontario.___
The team accomplished in two days what it would take divers years to do in studying the 4th-Century B.C. ship and its cargo, researchers said.
“Our technologies allows us to learn about the past in ways that we couldn’t achieve otherwise,” said Brendan Foley, an archaeologist with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Mass. and a member of the team.
The technology, he added, will let many researchers stop looking for mere “footnotes” in history and focus on bigger things. “We’re looking to write new chapters, and are convinced that in 10 to 15 years using these methods, we will have changed history.”
The project is the first in a new collaboration between U.S. and Greek researchers, who discovered the wreck in 2004 during a sonar survey.
The wooden ship sank off Chios and Oinoussia islands in the eastern Aegean Sea in 60 meters (about 200 feet) of water, too deep for conventional SCUBA diving. Its most visible remains are a cargo of 400 ceramic jars, called amphoras, filled with wine and olive oil.
Greek- 4th Cent BC- Aegean
Nuestra Senora de Atocha-Florida 1622Nuestra Senora de Atocha-Florida 1622
Until now, the richest shipwreck ever found had been the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha, which sank in a hurricane off the Florida Keys in 1622. Mel Fisher, a treasure hunting pioneer, found it in 1985 and recovered £200 million worth of coins.
Nuestra Señora de Atocha ("Our Lady of Atocha") was the most famous of a fleet of Spanish ships that sank in 1622 off the Florida Keys while carrying copper,
silver, gold, tobacco, gems, jewels, jewelry and indigo from Spanish ports at Cartagena, Colombia, Porto Bello in New Granada and Havana bound for Spain.
The ship was named for the parish of Atocha in Madrid.An unfortunate series of complications kept the Atocha in Veracruz before she
could rendezvous in Havana with the vessels of the Tierra Firme (Mainland) Fleet. After still more delays in Havana, what was ultimately a 28-ship convoy did not
manage to depart for Spain until September 4, 1622, six weeks behind schedule.On September 6, the Atocha was driven by a severe hurricane onto the coral
reefs near the Dry Tortugas, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) west of Key West. With her hull badly damaged, the vessel quickly sank, drowning every one aboard
except for three sailors and two slaves.
• Spanish Galleon
•Sank in hurricane 35 miles West of Key West, FL
• Carried copper, Silver, Gold, Tobacco, Gems and Jewelry
• Cargo from Colombia, Porto Bello, and Havana
• Part of 28-ship convoy headed to Spain
• Five Ships (at end of convoy) sank in same storm
Atocha
Santa Margarita
Rosario & 2 smaller ships
• Sept 5-6, 1622
• Atocha carried all the rich people and Jewels
• Smashed against a reef
• Sank from weight of gold and cannons
•Treasure Salvors and began searching in earnest for the much talked about Atocha. His effort over a sixteen-year period from 1970 to 1986 is a book in itself. But, in short lead to the discovery of the Santa Margarita in 1980 and the Atocha on July 20, 1985, her hull
Spanish expansion in the New World was rapid and by the late 1500's Mexico City, Lima and
Potosi had populations that exceeded the largest cities in Spain. It would be another half a century or more before the chief cities of colonial North America; Boston, Philadelphia, and New York, were to be founded. Colonists were granted
huge tracts of land to grow tobacco, coffee and other products for export to the mainland. More
important to the throne however, was the continent's mineral wealth of silver and gold, which were vital to Spain's continued growth.
Trade with the colonies followed a well-established system. Beginning in 1561 and
continuing until 1748, two fleets a year were sent to the New World. The ships brought
supplies to the colonists and were then filled with silver, gold, and agricultural products for
the return voyage back to Spain.The fleets sailed from Cadiz, Spain early in the
year, following the approximate route that Columbus had taken years before. Upon arrival in the Caribbean, the two fleets would split up,
the Nueva España Fleet continuing on to Veracruz, Mexico and the Tierra Firme Fleet to
Portobello in Panama. Here, the ships were unloaded and the cargo of silver and gold
brought aboard. For the return trip the divided fleets reassembled in Havana, then rode the Gulf
Stream north along the coast of Florida before turning east when at the same latitude as Spain.
The treasure fleets faced many obstacles; the two greatest of which were weather and pirates.
It was well known that the hurricane season began in late July, so for this reason the
operation was timed for an earlier departure. For protection against pirates, each fleet was
equipped with two heavily armed guard galleons. The lead ship was known as the capitaña. The
other galleon, called the almiranta, was to bring up the rear. A recently constructed 110 foot galleon, the Nuestra Señora de Atocha, was designated the almiranta of the Tierra Firme
Fleet.The fleet departed Spain on March 23, 1622 and
after a brief stop at the Caribbean Island of Dominica, the Atocha and the Tierra Firme Fleet
continued on to the Colombian port city of Cartagena, arriving in Portobello on May 24th.
Treasure from Lima and Potosi was still arriving by mule train from Panama City, a port on the
pacific side of the Isthmus. It would take nearly 2 months to record and load the Atocha's cargo in
preparation for departure. Finally, on July 22, the Tierra Firme Fleet set sail for Havana, via
Cartagena, to meet the fleet returning from Veracruz. In Cartagena, the Atocha received an
additional cargo load of treasure, much of it gold and rare first year production silver from the
recently established mints here and at Santa Fe de Bogata. It was late August, well into the hurricane season, before the fleet arrived in
Havana.As a military escort, the Atocha carried an entire company of 82 infantrymen to defend the vessel from attack and possible enemy boarding. For
this reason, she was the ship of choice for wealthy passengers and carried an
extraordinarily large percentage of the fleet's treasure. Unfortunately, firepower could not
save her from the forces of nature.On Sunday, September 4th, with the weather
near perfect, the decision was made to set sail for Spain. The twenty-eight ships of the
combined fleet raised anchor and in single file set a course due north towards the Florida Keys and the strong Gulf Stream current. The Atocha,
sitting low from its heavy cargo, took up its assigned position in the rear. By evening the wind started to pick up out of the northeast
growing stronger through the night. At daybreak the seas were mountainous and for safety most everyone was below deck seasick or in prayer.
Throughout the next day the wind shifted to the south driving most of the fleet past the Dry
Tortugas and into the relatively safe waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
The Atocha, Santa Margarita, Nuestra Señora del Rosario and two smaller vessels all at the tail
end of the convoy received the full impact of the storm and were not so fortunate. With their sails
and rigging reduced to shreds, and masts and tillers battered or broken, the ships drifted
helplessly toward the reefs. All five ships were lost, the Atocha being lifted high on a wave and
smashed violently on a coral reef. She sunk instantly, pulled to the bottom by her heavy
cargo of treasure and cannon.The next day, a small merchant ship making its
way through the debris rescued five Atocha survivors still clinging to the ship mizzenmast. They were all that were left of 265 passengers
and crew.Salvage attempts began immediately. The
Atocha was found in 55 feet of water with the top of its mast in plain view. Divers, limited to holding their breath, attempted recovery but were unable to break into the hatches. They
marked the site and continued searching for the other wrecks. The Rosario was found in shallow
water and was relatively easy to salvage, but the other vessels could not be located. While the
salvagers were in Havana obtaining the proper equipment to retrieve the Atocha's treasure, a second hurricane ravaged the area tearing the upper hull structure and masts from the ship.
When they returned, the wreck was no where to be found and salvage attempts over the next 10
years proved futile. However, the Santa Margarita was discovered in 1626 and much of
her cargo salvaged over the next few years. But, time and events slowly erased memories of the Atocha. Copies of the ship's register and written events of the times eventually found their way into the Archives of the Indies in Seville, Spain. These documents, like the treasure itself, were to lay in obscurity waiting for the right set of
circumstances centuries later.The twentieth century was a period of
tremendous technological advancement. For the Atocha, one of the most significant occurred in
1942 when a French naval lieutenant named Jacques-Ives Cousteau developed the self-
contained underwater breathing apparatus, or SCUBA for short. It allowed divers to remain
underwater for extended periods of time. SCUBA contributed to the discovery of ten wrecks from
the 1715 Spanish treasure fleet near Vero Beach, Florida. This highly publicized 1960's salvage
operation, conducted by Real Eight Corporation, ignited an unprecedented interest in Spanish
colonial shipwreck salvage, which remains strong to this day. It was this event that drew
people such as Mel Fisher into the industry and onto the path of the Atocha.
After participating in the 1715 fleet salvage operation, Mel formed a company called
Treasure Salvors and began searching in earnest for the much talked about Atocha. His effort over
a sixteen-year period from 1970 to 1986 is a book in itself. But, in short lead to the discovery of the Santa Margarita in 1980 and the Atocha
on July 20, 1985, her hull lying in 55 feet of water, exactly as recorded by the first salvagers
in 1622.
Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion-Mariana Islands Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion-Mariana Islands
16381638
Nuestra Se?ora de Atocha ("Our Lady of Atocha") was the most famous of a fleet of Spanish ships that sunk in 1622 off the Florida Keys while carrying copper, silver, gold, tobacco, and indigo from Spanish ports at Cartagena, Colombia, Porto Bello in New Granada and Havana bound for Spain. The ship was named for the parish of Atocha in Madrid, Spain.
On September 4, 1622, the Atocha was driven by a severe hurricane onto the coral reefs near the Marquesas Cays, about twenty miles west of Key West. With her hull savagely ripped open, the vessel quickly sank, drowning every one aboard except for five survivors (three sailors and two slaves). The Atocha was heavy-laden with gold, silver and precious gems, bound for the treasuries of Spain.
Nuestra Senora de la Pura y Limpia ConcepcionNuestra Senora de la Pura y Limpia Concepcion - - Ambrosia Banks- Dom. Republic 1641Ambrosia Banks- Dom. Republic 1641
the divers recovered 50,000 silver Spanish coins. The total take of coins recovered from Concepcion by the Webber team was 60,000. They also found gold chains and artifacts.
Burt Webber and his organization, Hispaniola Ventures LLC,
ORANJEMUND, Namibia (AFP) - Archaeologists are racing against ORANJEMUND, Namibia (AFP) - Archaeologists are racing against the little time left to salvage a fortune in coins and items from a the little time left to salvage a fortune in coins and items from a 500-year-old Portuguese shipwreck found recently off 's rough 500-year-old Portuguese shipwreck found recently off 's rough
southern coast.southern coast.
SUNKEN TREASURE- Coins from Famous Shipwrecks
On September 20, 1638, the Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion, a Spanish galleon plying the lucrative trade route between Manila in the Philippines and Acapulco, foundered in bad weather and was hurled onto a reef. Most of the 400 people on board perished, and her precious cargo from the Orient spilled into the sea. At the southernmost point of Saipan, in the Northern Mariana Islands {200 miles north of Guam}, one of the grand Spanish merchant ships -- loaded with Chinese silks/rugs, porcelain, ivory, cotton from India, ivory from Cambodia, camphor from Borneo, cinnamon and pepper and clove from the Spice Islands,and precious jewels from Burma, Ceylon, and Siam -- that plied the Pacific between the Philippine and Mexico for 250 years was wrecked through mishandling. Not long into its voyage, a mutiny arose on the Concepcion over the inexperience of her commander, the young nephew of Manila's governor. Refusing to obey orders, several officers each tried to gain control of the ship. Amid the confusion, the galleon broached in severe weather. With sails caught aback, high winds snapped the masts, sending them overboard in a tangle of rigging. Wind and currents drove the
crippled ship off course and onto a reef off Saipan, the second largest
island in the Marianas.
Following a 1644 inquiry into the Concepcion's loss, Spanish officials charged that Manila's colonial governor, Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, had misappropriated treasures in the Philippines and was shipping them back to Spain as personal cargo. Among the 59 charges brought against Corcuera was the accusation that he shipped personal booty -- treasures of gold and jewelry procured as bribes for granting special favors and appointments. He was also charged with appointing his nephew, Don Juan Francisco, to command the ship to protect the governor's spoils. Francisco was "at most 22 or 24 years of age", and "of little age or experience in military or naval matters."
The manila galleon trade was one of the most persistent, perilous, and profitable commercial enterprises in European colonial history. Between 1565 and 1815 it carried the treasures of the Orient to the West via Mexico in exchange for New World silver and the manufactured goods of Europe. One (1) galleon a year would embark on the trip. More than 40 galleons were lost in the treacherous seas over the centuries, but the search for their remains traditionally focused on the Atlantic and Carribbean legs of the trip.
http://ns.gov.gu/galleon/index.html
• Coins salvaged from the wreck of the Coins salvaged from the wreck of the Spanish galleon Spanish galleon Concepcion,Concepcion, which which sank off the Ambrosia Banks in 1641. sank off the Ambrosia Banks in 1641. (Tom Abend (Tom Abend
Silver pieces found on the ocean floor. From the 1978 discovery of the Spanish Galleon “Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion”, located off the coast of the Dominican Republic “Silver Banks”.
Museum key west
