Lot # 

Picture (click to enlarge)

 Lot title and description

Estimate (low-high)

SHIPWRECK SILVER COINS

“Golden Fleece wreck,” sunk ca. 1550 in the northern Caribbean

21

22

4 reales, assayer P to right. S-M4, KM-17, 13.5 grams. Clear mintmark oMo to left and assayer oPo to right of full shield, choice full pillars on the other side, full legends, well-centered strike on a nice round planchet, dark XF+ with a hint of corrosion (could be cleaned), very scarce. With Sedwick certificate.

23

24

25

26

27

28

29 

4 reales, assayer A to right. S-M6, KM-18, 13.7 grams. Very broad planchet with full legends (the metal even extending beyond the legends in some places), weak assayer A (scarce) but full mintmark M, nice full pillars but with doubling in the legends, good full crown and shield, dark but no corrosion, XF+. With Sedwick certificate. 

30

4 reales, assayer R to left. S-M7, KM-18, 13.3 grams. Rare with bold full assayer and mintmark, nearly full legends with full CAROLVS, perfect inner details and crown, dark XF with barest hint of corrosion around edge. With Sedwick certificate.  

31

2 reales, upside-down assayer G to right. S-M5a, KM-unlisted (cf. 12), 6.9 grams. Very rare and curious error with assayer G punched into the die upside-down, and a pretty decent specimen too, with full legends on a broad flan, full inner details except for some flatness, XF for wear, dark but no corrosion. With Sedwick certificate.  

32

33

34

1554 Fleet, sunk off Padre Island, Texas

Unidentified wreck off Ecuador, late 1500s?

36

San Martín, sunk in 1618 off Vero Beach, Florida

37

Atocha, sunk in 1622 west of Key West, Florida

(all cobs)

38

Potosí, Bolivia

39 

8 reales, Philip II or III, assayer B (5th period). S-P14 or 14a, KM-5.1 or 10, 21.1 grams. Grade 2, with nearly full and well-detailed shield and crown (typical of this early type), most of cross, part of edge missing from corrosion and some flatness. With Fisher insert-card #174064 (certificate missing but replaceable).  

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

8 reales, Philip III or IV, assayer T. S-P21, KM-10 9.0 grams. Grade 3, very thin and corroded (arguably Grade-4 quality) but with clear full shield, fairly clear assayer. With Fisher certificate #82-658  

48

49

50

8 reales, Philip III or IV, assayer not visible. 13.2 grams. Grade 3, nearly full shield and crown and cross despite heavy corrosion and tangential piece of edge missing (more like Grade-4 quality). With Fisher certificate #136482  

51

8 reales, Philip III or IV, assayer not visible, quadrants of cross transposed. 22.7 grams. Grade 3, thick and solid coin with full and uncorroded cross (a bit flat, however), the shield side heavily pitted from corrosion. With Fisher certificate #190443  

52

8 reales, Philip III or IV, assayer not visible, lions and castles transposed in upper half of shield. 17.6 grams. Grade 4, despite the heavy corrosion the shield is nearly full and shows the scarce transposition error clearly, cross side rather flat and corroded. With Fisher certificate #193137  

53

54

55

2 reales, Philip III or IV, assayer T. S-P21, KM-8 6.0 grams. Grade 2, chunky and out-of-round, with nearly full shield and cross, minor corrosion but flat spot on both sides, overly polished like all of the more modern recoveries (1990s and later). With Fisher certificate #10376  

Bogotá, Colombia

56

Santa Margarita, sunk in 1622 west of Key West, Florida

57

Concepción, sunk in 1641 off Hispaniola

(all Mexican cobs)

58

8 reales, (16)34P/D, with canvas impression. S-M19, KM-unlisted (cf. 45), 24.9 grams. Full 4 of date (very rare, missing in Calbetó) and bold oMP with very clear over-assayer, and among many coins from this wreck that, for whatever reason, show a grid pattern from the fusion of canvas onto the surface of the coin (only on the cross side on this example), no corrosion but lots of flatness, valuable old pedigree. Pedigreed to the Henry Christensen sale of May 14, 1982 (the only major auction of Concepción material ever to take place), with original lot envelope #24.  

59

8 reales, Philip IV, assayer P, with mineralized canvas attached. S-M19, KM-45, 22.9 grams. Taking a step further from the last lot, this coin shows the actual canvas still attached to the cross side, held into place with green, white, and black encrustation, the coin itself an even brown with no surface corrosion but bits of the edge missing, full shield with oMP to left and denomination 8 to right. With original insert-card (filled out by Frank Sedwick) and certificate.  

60

61

Capitana, sunk in 1654 off Chanduy, Ecuador

(all Potosí, Bolivia, cobs)

62

8 reales, 1649Z, crown-alone countermark on shield. S-P34 (c/m 1), KM-19b (c/m C19.1), 16.3 grams. Very bold details all over (full shield and crown and cross and P-Z and 8 and—best of all—four-digit date 1649, rare thus) despite moderate corrosion (thin planchet) and edge-crack, the countermark especially bold and full.  

63

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65

66

67

8 reales, (1652)E, Type IV. S-P37, KM-A20.4 18.7 grams. Bold full pillars with clear F-8-IIII and E-8-E and full crown, full shield (slightly doubled) and crown with (A)-P-8 to left and O-E-(52) to right, full king's ordinal IIII in legend, worn down but only light corrosion, nice toning, scarce. With Atlantic Treasure Coins photo-certificate.  

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