NEED TO KNOW
- Centuries-old coins have been found by researchers looking into the San José shipwreck, thought to be located in the Colombian Caribbean Sea
- The wreckage is reportedly worth approximately $17 billion
- The 150-foot-long Spanish galleon ship was sunk by British warships in 1708
Researchers believe they have uncovered coins from a 317-year-old shipwreck, which sank in 1708, containing treasure thought to be valued at approximately $17 billion.
On Tuesday, June 10, a study was published in the journal Antiquity, stating that “hand-struck, irregularly shaped coins — known as cobs in English and macuquinas in Spanish — that served as the primary currency in the Americas for more than two centuries,” were among the key finds amid the ongoing research into the sinking of the Spanish galleon ship, San José. British warships sank the vessel off the coast near the port city of Cartagena.
As previously reported by PEOPLE in March 2024, Colombian authorities had decided to move forward with the recovery of the ship, which had a cargo full of treasure. The Times stated that the Colombian navy had identified a wreck that “appeared to be a good candidate” for the sunken ship in 2015, but noted that “its identity has not been conclusively proven.”
The 150-foot-long, 64-gun, three-masted ship sank with 600 men aboard while carrying 200 tons of silver and emeralds, 11 million gold coins, and porcelain pottery, Colombian Navy divers said in June 2022, according to ABC News. Only 11 individuals survived the incident. Per The Times, the sunken ship is “the richest wreck in history.”
The latest study, which included photos of some of the coins that had been found, stated that the wreck was situated “at a depth of 600m in the Colombian Caribbean Sea, a location that requires specialized underwater equipment for research.”
“The exact number of coins visible on the seabed is difficult to determine due to the dynamic nature of the site, but the cobs identified via high-resolution in situ photography conducted by a remotely operated vehicle have an average diameter of 32.5mm and probably weigh around 27g,” according to the study.
The results added that markings on the coins helped to identify their authenticity. An “L” indicated that they had been mined in Lima, Peru, while the presence of the number 8 represented the denomination in escudos, the highest value at the time. The coins were also marked with the letter “H’, which was the mark of Francisco de Hurtado, the Chief Assayer in 1707.
The study said that one coin displayed “a small pellet next to the ‘8’, which is a mark of distinction of the cobs of this assayer.” While on another, “three letters ‘P. V. A.’ can be seen marking the motto expression ‘Plus Ultra’, or ‘Further Beyond’ in Latin.”
“This motto was used on the coins as a reference to the expansion of the Spanish monarchy in the Atlantic. Finally, the year of minting is represented by three digits (707, meaning 1707), in the lower part of the pillars,” it stated.
“The letters…cannot be clearly made out from the images, but on other coins from the same year and mint these bear a reference to King Philip V, the first Bourbon head of the Spanish monarchy,” the study continued. “Most of the gold coins from this period come from shipwrecks.”
Daniela Vargas Ariza, lead researcher from Colombia’s Naval Cadet School and the National Institute of Anthropology and History, said of the findings, “This body of evidence substantiates the identification of the wreck as the San José Galleon,” per The Times.
The recent study said that over the past decade, “four non-invasive campaigns” had surveyed the wreckage, “providing valuable insights into the age and provenance of artefacts found on the seabed.”
The study’s conclusion added, “This case study highlights the value of coins as key chronological markers in the identification of shipwrecks, particularly those from the Tierra Firme Fleet. The finding of cobs created in 1707 at the Lima Mint points to a vessel navigating the Tierra Firme route in the early eighteenth century. The San José Galleon is the only ship that matches these characteristics.”
Spain, the United States, Bolivian indigenous groups and Colombia have all claimed rights to the shipwreck in past years. But in 2011, a U.S. court determined that the ship was the property of the Colombian state, per ABC News.
The Times noted that an American salvage company, Sea Search Armada, had also claimed a share, claiming that it had located the wreck.
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In 2015, then-Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos spoke at a news conference regarding the shipwreck’s initial rediscovery, telling attendees, “This is the most valuable treasure that has been found in the history of humanity,” ABC News reported.
Since it was sunk by British warships some 317 years ago, the vessel has been remarkably untouched, officials previously said.
The Colombian government didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information.
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