SOLD Santiago Shipwreck 8 Reales Pendant; Please Explore Our Spanish Shipwreck Pendants For Similar Items.

Item #8225
$1,350.00
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Description:

Original signed salvagers photo certificate included. This is a genuine silver "Piece of Eight" coin salvaged from the Santiago Shipwreck, which sank in the channel between Mozambique and Madagascar in 1585. The Santiago was a Portuguese Carrack, 150' in length, with 12 bronze cannon and a huge stern castle that towered high above the sea. In early April 1585, the Santiago left Lisbon, Portugal, commanded by Admiral Fernando de Mendoca. She was the largest in a fleet of 6 ships bound for the spice trade in Cochin, India, carrying a registered cargo of 100,000 silver coins.
While rounding the southern tip of Africa, the fleet became scattered after a storm. Sailing at night and alone up the Mozambique Channel on April 12th, the Santiago, due to pilot error, struck the Bassas da India atoll at full speed. Witnesses said that the ship lost its' bottom upon hitting the coral reef and parts of her upper works floated forward, coming to rest over the coral reef on the southern part of the atoll. The captain and crew abandoned ship with the 1 useable lifeboat, leaving close to 400 passengers to perish on the shipwreck.
The wreck site was discovered in December 1977 by a treasure hunter named Ernest Erich Klaar. Over the next several years, he recovered thousands of coins along with the 12 bronze guns, one astrolabe, religious objects and some jewels.