FULLY ENCRUSTED SHIPWRECK COIN SHELL Vliegenthart 1735 Ducaton Contraband Silver

TWO AVAILABLE Fully encrusted shipwreck buscuits, with full uncleaned ocean sedimentation and even sea shells stuck to the coin. Based on the size and shape of these coins it is possible to identify them as Dutch Silver Ducatons. At the time of the Vliegentharts sinking, Ducatons were not allowed to be used for trade outside of the Netherlands, meaning a wealthy merchant was smuggling these coins illegally as part of his personal wealth. It is very rare to find full encrusted shipwreck coins nowadays, especially so with ones like this with full sedimentation and sea shells. Contemporaneous salvage under contract with the Dutch East India Company was unsuccessful, but it did provide a piece of evidence-a secret map-that did not emerge from obscurity until 1977.

Stemming from that, divers under the former London attorney Rex Cowan discovered the wreck in 1981, and in 1983 they found their first coins, one of three chests of Mexican silver and Dutch gold coins (totaling 67,000 guilders or dollar-sized units) for the East India trade aboard the Vliegenthart. The second chest was smashed on the seabed and its contents partially salvaged, while the third chest, intact like the first, came up in 1992.

The divers also recovered several smaller boxes of large Dutch silver coins known as "ducatoons, " illegally exported and therefore contraband. Among the silver coins found were thousands of Mexican cobs, predominantly 8 reales, many with clear dates in the early 1730s and in excellent condition. This item is in the category "Coins & Paper Money\Coins: World\Europe\Netherlands". The seller is "sarcasmos2001-3" and is located in this country: US. This item can be shipped to United States.

Country/Region of Manufacture: Netherlands
Certification: Uncertified