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Philip IV (1621-1665)
Philip V (1700-1746)
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COLOMBIAN GOLD COBS FROM THE MARAVILLAS(1656), 1715 FLEET AND THE MESUNO WRECK (1636) (A brief history of Colombian gold cobs follows C7.)
C1. From the 1656 Bahamian Shipwreck of the Spanish Galleon [SOLD] NUESTRA SENORA DE LAS MARAVILLAS, a Santa Fe de Bogota two escudos, a choice and very rare full-date 1651 issue. Just three 1651 Bogotas are known, two of them recovered from the Maravillas.
The Nuestra Senora de las Maravillas was the unlucky Almiranta of the 1655-56 Treasure Fleet. The galleon and 600 of those on board perished in a storm off Grand Bahama Island on the night of January 4, 1656. Her cargo included coins and precious metal bars recently salvaged from the 1654 Ecuadorian wreck of the Capitana. This treasure was apparently not destined to reach the financially strapped Felipe IV. The Spanish did manage to salvage a little of the treasure in 1657, but could not find the site in subsequent years. It was not until 315 years later, in 1972, that Bob Marx finally rediscovered the legendary wrecksite and began to salvage coins and artifacts . In 1973 a fifteen year hiatus began, enforced by the Bahamian government, until salvage resumed in 1988 under the Marex Corporation, led by Capt. Herbert Humphrey. Marex successfully worked the site for artifacts, emeralds, silver coins, and a group of about 400 Bogota two escudos, including the present coin.
SOLD. terravitan@aol.com or 480-595-1293
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C2. From the 1715 Fleet. [sold] Reign of Charles II (1665-1700) Santa Fe de Bogota. Two escudos. 1699. Very rare Fleet date & unique variety.
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C3. From the 1715 Fleet Santa Fe de Bogota, two escudos, a boldly dated 1705. An absolutely mint state specimen from a group found in the 1960's by Real 8 on Douglas Beach, the wrecksite of the 1715 Fleet patache NIEVES. From the legendary CABALLEROS Collection, Part I, lot 136.
This is a beautiful mint state 1705 Bogie with a bold 705 date and a well-struck shield & cross. Notice the letter A to the right of the shield. This is from the legend CAROLUS. Almost all Bogies from 1700 to 1714 were struck in the name of Carlos II, the Hapsburg monarch who died in 1700. The authorities at Bogota were apparently unwilling to anticipate a victory by the new Bourbon king Philip V in the war over succession to the Spanish throne.
For some reason 1705 is a heavily faceted issue with flat areas that often obscure most of the shield and cross. This is example is far better than average. Most of the cross and shield are boldly struck on this coin. The coin is as lustrous as when it was struck 304 years ago! No one has ever ventured an explanation of why the NIEVES should contain a small hoard of mint state 1705 Bogies among its treasures, but it did. Perhaps a Colombian merchant was returning to Spain with his savings. The manifest and passenger list for the NIEVES has not yet surfaced. Weight: 6.75 gms. Diameter: 21.5 mm.
Available for $3650 terravitan@aol.com or 480-595-1293
C4. From the 1715 Fleet Santa Fe de Bogota, two escudo, 1707. This very rare date, unknown before the Fleet, has only 3 known collectible specimens, of which this is by far the best. This coin pictured in Calico NE #10. A well struck, near mint state rarity that shows the grey & white coral deposits definitive of Corrigan's Beach, the wrecksite of the capitana of the 1715 Fleet, NUESTRA SENORA DE LA REGLA. From the legendary CABALLEROS Collection, Part I, lot 137. Purchased from Real 8 in the late 1960's by Calico himself for Caballeros.
For some reason the 1707 is a substantially rarer Fleet date than many of issues like 1705 that precede it it. The few 1707's recovered from the Fleet, moreover, were clearly from a merchant's private purse, and not a shipment from the Bogota mint. All 1707's show slight signs of actual circulation.
This enlargement allows us to discuss some interesting features of the cross side die. All of the 1707 I have seen before, including the Florida State coins, show only a truncated date with most of the 7's chopped. So the Ubilla (1964) and Schulman (1972) and Lasser (2005)specimens. This is the only 1707 known to me showing a clear 707. Notice the first and second second are very different in style! ThAT kind of thing happened at Bogota!
The shield side is well struck (for a Bogie!) but shows a central transverse die crack that affects almost all 1707. This crack got worst in later striking, erasing most of the shield detail. Almost all of the posthumous monarch's name, CAROLUS, is visible in the legend. This is very rare. Abundant grey matrix and coral, a signature of Corrigan's Beach coins, remains on both sides of the coin. Corrigan's is known to be the wrecksite of the 1715 Fleet capitana NUESTRA SENORA DE LA REGLA. This coin is plated (pictured) in the standard reference volume, Calico's Numismatica Espanola. Weight: 6.80 gms Diameter: 22 mm.
Available for $4350. terravitan@aol.com or 480-595-1293
C5. Santa Fe de Bogota, two escudos (1729), [SOLD] Second Reign of Philip V (1700-1746). Beautifully struck, mint state, very rare late style issue of assayer Sanchez de la Torre (S) Restropo type M80-8. PCGS calls it an AU-58! !
SOLD terravitan@aol or 480-595-1293
C6. From the famous 1636 MESUNO Shipwreck Santa Fe de Bogota, mint state two escudos (1636). NGC graded "Mesuno Treasure MS 61". [SOLD]
El Mesuno is a treacherous bend in the Magdelena River about 67 miles downriver from Bogota. In late 1636 a dispatch boat carrying a fresh shipment of two escudos from the Bogota mint came to grief on one of El Mesuno's shoals. The entire shipment of about 1400 gold pieces disappeared into river and could not be recovered. Exactly three hundred years later, in August of 1936, a group of workmen dredging the river stumbled upon a remarkable hoard of gold coins and artifacts, which became known as the Mesuno Hoard.
The Colombian Banco de la Republica acquired the hoard and by the mid-50's began to disperse some of it through several well-established numismatic firms. In America Stack's (Coin Galleries) was the outlet, and for nearly 20 years sold several hundred Mesuno coins. Pictured below is a copy of their very rare inaugural 1959 sale of Mesuno coins, featuring articles on the Mesuno wreck & coins by C.S.Wilcox and others. The present coin almost certainly came from one of those early Stack's sale.
This coin is a far above average Mesuno two escudos, with a almost complete and well struck shield and cross. The coin in mint state with no sign of circulation or mishandling. Many Mesunos were overcleaned or immediately put into jewelry. Original as-they came out-of -the-Magdalena Mesunis are very hard to find these days. This coin is is undated, but it die-matches perfectly with the few Mesuno coins that do bear a 1636 date. The coin weighs 6.64 gms, its diameter is 21 mm, and the reference number in the Lasser and the Restropo texts is M50S-15.
[SOLD] terravitan@aol.com or call 480-595-1293
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C7. A choice mint state 1636 Bogota from the famous 1636 Mesuno Shipwreck Santa Fe de Bogota, two escudos (16)36.
A lustrous mint state , 6.7 gms, 22 mm.
More Mesuno coins are listed on the new Mesuno page.
terravitan@aol.com or call 480-595-1293
CColombian Gold Cobs (1622-1756)
What would later become the Viceroyalty of New Granada acquired one of its first casa de fundicion (assay office) at Marquita in Central Colombia about 1590. Marquita issued officially stamped gold ingots for 30 years, some perhaps imitating the Tejeulos system being used at Mexico City. None of these ingots apparently survive, a circumstance that a new Tierra Firme shipwreck, 1590-1625, may eventually remedy.
In 1620 Philip III sold Capt Alonso Turillo that right to establish a mint at Bogota with an oficina or branch mint at Cartagena. Turillo arrived in Colombia in 1621 and very quickly commenced a silver coinage. About a dozen or so two escudos dated 1622 give evidence that a brief gold coinage may also been attempted in Cartagena. No doubt some of this 1622 issue was struck in Madrid as patterns to show Philip III and his court, but the dies may have later accompanied Turillo to Cartagena and been used again. A final judgment on the 1622 gold coinage is not yet possible.
Mint records show that Cartagena began to strike two and one escudos in 1627 and continued to do so for 9 years (1627-1635). No gold coins attest a brief possible minatge in 1626. Under political pressure from officials at Bogota, Cartagena was never allowed to strike gold after 1635. The Bogota mint began regular production at the same time as Cartagena, and with a few brief hiatuses struck gold cobs until 1756.
For 110 years Bogota struck only one and two escudos. Very few one escudo survive--the first is dated 1685--suggesting that the original mintages were small & episodic. Bogota one escudos showing a legible date are extremely rare before assayer Molano (1730's). Late in the 1730's, faced with large new gold deposits to refine and coin, Molano began to strike four and eight escudos. Four and eight escudos were struck for 20 years, until the switch to milled coinage in 1756.
Our knowledge of
Colombian gold (and silver) cobs is heavily indebted to four
shipwrecks. The Mesuno wreck of 1636 and the Maravillas shipwreck of
1656 added greatly to our knowledge of Philip IV era Colombian gold.
The 1715 Fleet Florida wrecks did the same for late Carlos II and
early Philip V issues, and of course the 1622 wreck of the Atocha has been
a key player in sorting out the first gold & silver issues of
1621-22.
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