Mexico: Philip V gold "1715 Fleet" Cob 2 Escudos 1714 Mo-J MS63 NGC,...

Description

Philip V gold "1715 Fleet" Cob 2 Escudos 1714 Mo-J MS63 NGC, Mexico City mint, KM53.2, Cal-1887. 6.8gm. Salvaged from the "1715 Fleet" (Sunk off Florida's Treasure Coast). 300th Anniversary find. With the usual peripheral flatness for the type but intricately sharp features.

On July 30th, 1715, a Spanish treasure fleet, which would later be famously known as the 1715 Fleet, encountered a hurricane that claimed a sizable portion of its galleons and crew. A reported 1,000 lives and 14 million pesos were lost, including an equal amount of treasure in contraband. It's hard to estimate the value lost when measured in today's currency, but one can imagine the extensive caliber of cargo when considering the convoy was a combination of two different fleets: the Nueva España Fleet, which got stuck in Veracruz for two years before it could join the Tierra Firme Fleet. After more delays in Havana, a 12-13 ship convoy left with an enormous amount of accumulated cargo, never to reach Spain. The Spaniards salvaged the wreck for a few years afterwards, recovering nearly half of the official cargo from shallow-water wreck sites. Modern salvaging began when Florida resident Kip Wagner found a "piece of eight" at a beach after a hurricane and was intrigued by its origins. With old maps, metal detectors, a small plane, and a permit from the state of Florida, Wagner located wreck sites and artifacts, ultimately putting together a team of archeologists, divers, and investors. This was the beginning of the Real Eight Company. As the Real Eight team combed the seabed with suction machines, they found jewels, emeralds, Chinese porcelain, silverware, and gold & silver ingots. Furthermore, they found as many as 10,000 gold Cobs and over 100,000 silver Cobs. These huge discoveries uncovered yet-unknown numismatic pieces and ultimately made rare gold Cobs "common" (though still very high-end for collectors). The salvaged coins were mainly from Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia, minted primarily between 1711 and 1715, although numerous earlier pieces from the 1600's were also recovered. As modern salvaging continues in these underwater sites, we expect many more exciting discoveries to be made, including the recovery of the last five or six ships that have yet to be found.

Metal: Gold
Diameter: 19mm
Weight: 6.77g
AGW: 0.1996oz

More information about Mexican Coins. See also: Mexico World Coin Nationality.

1714 Mo-J年墨西哥菲利普五世「1715年艦隊」2埃斯庫多金幣。MS63 NGC。
墨西哥城造幣廠。6.8克。出自「1715年艦隊」。此幣一如多數例子，邊緣較為平坦，但圖文仍相當分明細緻。

1715年7月30日，一枝滿載金銀財寶的西班牙艦隊在佛羅里達海岸遭遇颶風，人員和船隻損失慘重。據報船員折損千名，並有一千四百萬披索不知所蹤，當中亦包括價值相當的違禁品。雖然具體價值難以以現代貨幣估算，但可以想像貨品種類定必多不勝數。這枝艦隊實際上是由兩枝艦隊組成，故先要從新西班牙艦隊談起。該艦隊曾滯留維拉克魯茲兩年，隨後加入了大陸艦隊。在夏灣拿延宕數次後，這枝合計擁有十二至十三艘船的艦隊承載著數量可觀的貨物浩蕩出發，但最終未能抵達西班牙，成為了聞名後世的「1715年艦隊」。西班牙人在數年後嘗試打撈，並從淺水的殘骸中起回了近半的貨物。而現代的打撈工作則始於佛羅里達居民Kip Wagner。他在颶風過後在海灘找到「一件八枚」的錢幣，並對其來源心生好奇。憑藉舊地圖、金屬探測器、小型飛機及佛羅里達州政府的許可，Wagner確定了沉船和貨物的位置，並組織了一隊由考古學家、潛水員和投資者組成的團隊，是為Real Eight Company的前身。Real Eight的團隊用抽水機搜索海床，最終發現了一批珠寶、祖母綠、中國瓷器、銀器和金銀錠。除此之外，他們亦發現了上萬件金玉米幣和超過十萬件銀玉米幣。這次碩果纍纍的探索更發現了先前未有記錄的錢幣，並令本來珍罕少見的金玉金幣變得稀鬆平常（但對收藏家而言仍是相當高端的品種）。這批被尋回的錢幣大多出自墨西哥、哥倫比亞、秘魯和玻利維亞，雖然不少出自1600年代，但多數的鑄造年份約為1711至1715年間。水下打撈工作現今仍在進行當中，最後的五至六艘船至今仍不知去向，但敝司期待更多喜訊將接踵而至。

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