Description: Great Salvaged Condition. Authentic Spanish Piece of Eight coin struck 1536-1555 recovered from the "Golden Fleece" Shipwreck featuring the "Pillars of Hercules" set into a handcrafted solid 14K gold pendant bezel. It comes with a Certificate of Authenticity, velvet pouch, polishing cloth and gift box. This style coin is one of the first types of coins to be struck in the New World! This coin was handstruck and is in beautiful condition!The "Golden Fleece Wreck", ca. 1550, Northern Caribbean SeaThe accompanying artifact is a genuine silver coin recovered from an unidentified shipwreck sunk circa 1550 in international waters in the northern Caribbean Sea. This unidentified wreck is noteworthy for its yield of small, round, flat silver “splash” ingots as well as gold bars and pieces of bars that were used as early gold coins during the joint reign of Joanna, and her son Charles I (Carlos I) of Spain. Queen Johanna was the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. Due to Johanna’s mental illness, her son Charles I was formally recognized as King and ruled conjointly with his mother. Many of the silver “splashes” bear a stamp that shows the letter C (for Charles) below a crown (the “Crowned-C” mark). In addition some of the gold bars and pieces bear a stamp that shows a castle between the figurative Pillars of Hercules with the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Spain in the early 1500’s. The gold bars from this circa 1500 wreck present the first evidence ever seen of the “Golden Fleece” marking on bullion from the New World. The silver coins from this wreck were among the very first coins made in the New World, from the Mexican mint (opened in 1536), using a unique design that shows a simple shield with the arms of Castile and Leon on the obverse and the Pillars of Hercules atop waves on the reverse, with mintmark (m or oM) and the assayer-mark flanking the shield and the motto PLVS VLTRA across the middle of the pillars, the whole coin design being known as the “Late Series”. The pillars are symbolic of the Straits of Gibraltar and the waves for the sea. The “Plus Ultra” Latin inscription served as a warning to other countries: We own more beyond the Straits of Gibraltar, the New World. The Latin legends on the coins read thus (with some variations): CAROLVS ET IOHANA REGES / HISPANIARVM ET INDIARVM, meaning “Charles and Johanna, King and Queen of Spain and the Indies”.
Price: 3899 USD
Location: Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands
End Time: 2024-11-27T20:58:32.000Z
Shipping Cost: 0 USD
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Item Specifics
Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 14 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Denomination: 4 Reales
Year: 1536-1555
Certification: Registration No. 19695-DS
