| Coin Update! |
| |
 A coin
clump recovered from the Santa Margarita site (see news release dated May 5, 2007) was
recently separated during conservation. The clump revealed an unexpected grouping of very rare
coins. Investigation revealed some traditional Phillip II and Phillip III shield coins along
with 7 Mexico Mint, One Reale, Carlos and Johanna era Pillars and Wave coins.
 This would date
the coins back to 1548-1556, far older than the majority of coins found aboard either the Atocha
or Margarita. The quality of markings on the coins places them in the Grades One, Two and Three
categories which allows a very clear look at the symbols they bear.
The Practical Book of Cobs written by Daniel and Frank Sedwick gives us a good explanation of the
markings. “The two vertical lines symbolize the Pillars of Hercules, a mythological reference to
the Straits of Gibraltar, with one pillar in Spain, actually the rock of Gibraltar, and the other
in North Africa, where mountains rise from the coast opposite of Gibraltar”… ”In the middle three
horizontal spaces of the tic-tac-toe appeared the Latin PLUS ULTRA (with Latin U as V)”…which
 translates “’more beyond,’ either in three three-letter groups as PLV-SVL-TRA, or as the
letters P-V-A”… “The message was: Over the waves (the Atlantic Ocean), beyond the Pillars of
Hercules, a New World (America) exists, with the implication that this New World Belongs
to Spain.”
These coins were most likely part of a passenger’s personal belongings due to the fact that they
were minted approximately 75 years before the Margarita sailed.
There have been VERY few Carlos and Johanna Pillar and Wave coins recovered from the Atocha or
Margarita wreck site. Combining their age and rarity these will be quite valuable.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|