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Vergulde Draeck (“Gilt Dragon”), sunk in 1656 off Western Australia
Much has been written about the loss and salvage of this Dutch East India Company trading vessel (known as an East Indiaman), which some consider to be Australia’s counterpart to Florida’s 1715 Fleet in terms of availability of reasonably priced cobs for collectors. In contrast to the Spanish treasure wrecks, however, the Vergulde Draeck carried only a modest amount of just silver cobs (eight chests totaling 45,950 coins), mostly Mexican but also some cobs from Potosí and Spain as well as some Colombian rarities. The ship was on its way from the Netherlands to Batavia (modern-day Jakarta, Indonesia) when suddenly it found itself wrecked on a reef some three miles from land in the early morning hours of April 28, 1656. Only 75 of the 193 people on board were able to reach the shore, and seven of them soon left in the ship’s pinnace to seek help in Batavia. When authorities there learned of the wreck, several attempts were made to rescue the other survivors and, more importantly, the eight chests of treasure, but no sign of the wreck or survivors was ever found. The wreck remained undiscovered until 1963, when spear-fishermen stumbled upon it and began to recover coins and artifacts. Salvage efforts to date, mostly under the supervision of the Western Australian Museum, whose certificates often accompany the coins (and carry a small premium), have yielded only about half of the total coins officially recorded to be on board this ship. For related items visit our Fixed-Price Catalog |
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