1715 Fleet Florida Shipwreck Mexico 8 Reale Silver Coin Plate Cob Treasure Coin

This coin was found off of the eastern coast of Florida. A cannon was found with 50 gold Escudos and 40 silver Reales inside! Recently a 50 foot long gold chain and 5 more gold coins were found. The story begins with the "War of the Spanish Succession" ending, as well as the death of the Spanish Queen.

King Philip found a new bride, Elizabeth Farnesse, Duchess of Palma and needed a new Queen's Dowry. The king would send two separate fleets to the New World (after the government had cancelled all sailing from the Americas to Spain for two years), which would load up at separate ports Vera Cruz and Cartegena, then meet up in Havana. The plan was to have one large Armada with a heavy navel escort, carrying the accumulated precious metals and jewels from the last three years. Of which, the average year sailed in between 90 and 120 million francs.

Treasure The Cartegena Fleet arrived first in Havana (in March), loaded down by chests filled with Gold coins (from Santa Fe de Bogota), Colombian Emeralds from Muzo mine and gold jewelry from Peru. Awaiting the fleet of Vera Cruz, commanded by Gen. Don Juan Eseban de Ubilla, carrying Gold and Silver ingots. However, Don Juan was delayed in Vera Cruz awaiting pack mule trains from Acapulco. Finally, in the first week of May the mule train arrived with their silks, ivories and blue and white porcelains.

The details of the Queen's Jewels are blurry at best but were known to include and Emerald ring weighing in at 74 carats, a heart designed from 130 matched pears, a pair of earrings each of 14 pearls and a rosary of pure coral. There were 8 chests in total and stowed in Ubilla's cabin (who was a senior military officer and had overall command). After many other delays, finally the Galleons left Havana on Wednesday July 24th, with favorable winds pushing them at nearly 6 knots.

By the 29th the winds were over 70 knots, with gusts hitting over 100 knots. The chaplain said, the water flew in the air like arrows, doing injury to those it hit. Finally, at 2:30am on July 31st, the flagship hit the reefs and torn apart, throwing all off her decks and 223 sailors were pounded to death by the rocks.

More than 700 men were missing, wreckage and bodies scattered for almost 30 miles along the coast. For the next four years the Spanish attempted to salvage the treasure, but finally ceased in 1719. The dangers or sharks, pirates and Indians were just too great. There was an estimate of 14 million pesos registered treasure lost. You can also check us out on our Facebook page - Rare Collectibles. This item is in the category "Coins & Paper Money\Coins: World\North & Central America\Mexico\Colonial (up to 1821)".

The seller is "rangersplash93" and is located in this country: US. This item can be shipped to United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, China, Sweden, Korea, South, Indonesia, Taiwan, South Africa, Thailand, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Bahamas, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Republic of, Malaysia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands, Barbados, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Brunei Darussalam, Bolivia, Ecuador, Egypt, French Guiana, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Iceland, Jersey, Jordan, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Liechtenstein, Sri Lanka, Luxembourg, Monaco, Macau, Martinique, Maldives, Nicaragua, Oman, Peru, Pakistan, Paraguay, Reunion, Vietnam, Uruguay.

Denomination: 8 Reales
Composition: Silver
Year: 1715
Country/Region of Manufacture: Mexico
Certification: Authentic