Gold coins recovered from the “world’s richest shipwreck”, the Spanish galleon San José, have revealed 300-year-old imagery including castles, lions, and a Jerusalem cross variation. Discovered off Colombia’s Caribbean coast, the coins confirm the wreck’s identity and offer a vivid glimpse into early 18th-century Spanish colonial wealth. The San José sank in 1708 during a battle with British warships, while loaded with as many as 200 tons of treasure now worth an estimated $17 billion. The new information is based on the high-definition ROV imagery recently published in Antiquity, which reveals the coins amongst the wreckage at a depth of almost 2,000 feet.
Colonial Gold Coins from San José Shipwreck Confirmed to Originate from Peru’s Lima Mint in 1707
As per a report from Live Science, the study was led by researchers from Colombia’s navy and the Institute of Anthropology and History. The analysis confirmed that the coins came from the Lima mint, bearing Jerusalem-style crosses and the “Crowned Pillars of Hercules above the sea”, linking them to Peru’s colonial coin-minting tradition and to the ill-fated San José galleon, using colonial records.
The shipwreck’s treasure found by Colombia in 2015 has led to international legal battles, as Spain lays claim under maritime law. Colombia has not signed the treaty and plans to exhibit items in a museum, but it may be legally prevented from selling items.
Study lead author Daniela Vargas Ariza described the coins as “macuquinas”—hand-cut, irregular colonial currency that once circulated widely in the Americas. Each piece measured around 1.3 inches in diameter and weighed approximately 27 grams. Researchers found dozens of such coins embedded among cargo and weapons remains from the galleon’s final voyage.
The San José exploded and sank after its gunpowder ignited during a cannon battle with British forces amid the War of the Spanish Succession. Only a few ships in the Spanish fleet escaped, but the San José’s wreck now offers a unique archaeological window into colonial naval history and black-market economies of the time.
