Gold Recovered in Sunken Spanish Treasure Ship Galleon Espadarte c. 1558 AD

Description: Gold Recovered in Sunken Spanish Treasure Ship Galleon Espadarte c. 1558 AD ***Gold Nugget/Flake Recovered from the Sunken Spanish Treasure Galleon Espadarte circa 1558 A.D. ***MASSIVE TREASURE FIND*** **One Gold Nugget/Flake Recovered from Espadarte** **Historical Information (Provided by Daniel Frank Sedwick, LLC of Winter Park, Florida) The code name given to this wreck by the Arqueonautas was IDM-002 (which stands for the second wreck site found at Ilha de Mocambique or Island of Mozambique) and was soon known within the team as the "Fort San Sebastian wreck," but they were not able to identify the name or year. By the study of the hull remains and the Ming porcelain found, they knew it was something from the second half of the 16th Century, but the reports in their possession from the archives of Portuguese ships lost in that area and period did not seem to match with the wreck. A study of the porcelain showed that some were inscribed with reign marks, for instance ming jiajing nian zao, "made in the Jiajing period of the great Ming dynasty." The Jiajing period lasted from 1522 to 1566, but this did not help them narrow our chronological parameters. The piece that helped them more was a beautifully painted dish with a white hare in the center and, on the exterior, a bird perched on the branch of a fruiting peach tree. Its rare cyclical date mark on the underside read gui chou nia zao, or "made in the gui chou year." The Chinese system of dating was based on cycles of sixty years. The cyclical calendar is believed to have started in 2637 BC, but the Ming era that interested them, that is to say the period of the Portuguese empire, began its cycles in 1444, 1504 and 1564. Each year within the cycle has its own name, and in their case it was gui chou. Gui, the first ideogram in the inscription, reading in the Chinese manner from top to bottom and left to right, is one of the so-called ten stems; it combines with chou, the second ideogram of our inscription, which is one of the six possible 'branch' characters that can go with gui. The combination of the two told them that it is the 50th year of the cycle. The question was, which cycle? Based on the historical artistic evidence (shape, style of painting, subject matter, motifs and subsidiary ornamentation), it could not have been from the cycle beginning in 1564, as its 50th year would give them 1613 and put them in the late Wanli period, by which time the artistry was entirely different. Also the cycle beginning 1444 was too early. The only cycle that fit the artistry was the cycle beginning in 1504, which gives us the year 1553, putting them in the third quarter of the sixteenth century - exactly where they thought they should be, based on historical artistic judgments. But this does not mean that this wreck sank in 1553. It would have taken time for the cargo to reach the market, and thence to Africa. At the time, Chinese porcelain was a very sought-after commodity for European merchants. With all of this in mind, the most likely date for the Fort San Sebastian wreck was the five-year period between 1554 and 1558. It could not have been earlier because the dated dish gave us a theoretical earliest date; it could, however, be later, but not by much. Almost seven years after the discovery of the wreck, the uninterrupted archival research carried out by Arqueonautas and its team of specialists finally succeeded. In March 2007 two documents landed on the conference table of the office of Arqueonautas in Estoril, Portugal. One document reads as follows: The 'Nau' Espadarte, which went to India in 1554, while on return to Portugal, broke the mast in the Cape [of Good Hope], being forced to go back to Mozambique, where it stranded in the point of Nossa Senhora do Baluarte on a depth of 5 fathoms (9m). **Original text in Portuguese** Espadarte ser perdido em Mocambique vindo por capitao dele D. Alvaro da Silveira e o piloto Diogo Afonso se perdeu na Ponta de Nossa Senhora do Baluarte (...) entramos entre as 10 e as 11 horas dentro do canal e o menos fundo que nele se achou foram 5 bracas e achamos o Espadarte como acima digo alagado com o mastro quebrado o qual quebraram com tormenta que trazia vindo do Cabo para Mocambique [vinha da India para onde tinha ido em 1554]. **The History of Arqueonautas** Arqueonautas was founded on May 19, 1994. Its primary mission is to protect world maritime heritage, which it pursues through partnership agreements with governments of different countries. In August of 1995 an exclusive concession contract was concluded with the government of Cape Verde covering the whole of the archipelago's territorial waters. During the seven years in which Arqueonautas pursued its activities around these Atlantic islands, over 100 shipwrecks were located and documented, resulting in 12 recovery operations. In the course of this project more than 10,000 artifacts of significant cultural and historical value and 65,000 coins were recovered, scientifically documented and preserved. From these finds, about 70% of the artifacts and 40% of the coins remained in Cape Verde for public display at the National Maritime Museum in Cidade da Praia, Santiago. In the year 2000 work was initiated in Mozambique. Since the commencement of non-intrusive survey and reconnaissance operations, 32 shipwrecks were discovered, of which three sites so far have been excavated and scientifically documented. The first excavation led to the recovery of an important cargo of Chinese Ming Dynasty porcelain from the middle of the 16th Century as well as 12 kilograms of gold nuggets and gold disks that had been smuggled amongst the ship's ballast. The most significant part of the porcelain is now being cataloged at the National Maritime Museum on the Island of Mozambique for later exhibition. It should be emphasized that this is the most important collection of Ming porcelain existing on the African Continent. Two Maritime Conservation centers have been established. The first in Cidade de Praia / Cape Verde with the cooperation of the government of the Republic of Cape Verde, and the second on the Island of Mozambique established under contract between the government of Mozambique, Arqueonautas and Patrimonio Internacional. Both these centers promote the cultural importance of the collections and offer training in maritime archaeology and conservation. The transfer of knowledge to professionals of the countries where we are active is an important goal of ours and is characteristic of our way of operating, along with investment in structures that enable the ongoing implementation of such knowledge, even after Arqueonautas is no longer present in these territories. The scientific papers resulting from the work carried out in Cape Verde and Mozambique are now being concluded. Scientific publications take a long time due to the complexity and large volume of information gathered. Their publication in the scientific community will contribute to enhance the knowledge of maritime history between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. **Recovery Report** The site was found during a systematic survey around Ilha de Mocambique on the 30th of May 2001, and the only visible remains were a huge stone ballast pile at 9 m of depth falling abruptly into the channel until 32.5 m depth, where four intact Martaban jars were found. In two sondages in different parts of the stone ballast pile, wood timbers were observed, plus lead sheathing, fragments of coarse ceramics, two old anchors and blue and white Chinese porcelain objects, most of them intact and in very good condition. A complete survey of the wreck was done, every possible measurement was taken and a sketch to scale of the site was produced, including the depth isoclines. In order to evaluate the site, two test sondages were done, one of 6m2 (3mx2m) and the other of 1m2 (1mx1m), both plotted in the site sketch. Gold artifacts were found in the surrounding area of the ballast pile, all buried inside cylindrical chimneys known as "blow holes," which are nothing more than vents from where gases escaped the magma in previous eras. The first two artifacts were a small hemispherical bowl and a bun-ingot. While the first, possibly a salt container, had been cast, hammered and filed into an object of exquisite beauty, the second was a solid, amorphous lump, the result of the gold having been smelted in a crucible and then poured into a simple, crudely formed receptacle that gave the ingot its irregular shape. Most of the gold from this site was like this, totally unmarked, no signs of fineness or ownership, possibly indicating that they were being smuggled to Europe without the Crown's tax. A total of 12.4 Kg of small ingots and fragments were recovered. YOU WILL RECEIVE ONE AUTHENTICATED GOLD NUGGET/FLAKE FROM THE ESPADARTE c.1558 A.D. Shipping to US addresses is only $3.95 for any number of eligible items in a combined order. Each additional eligible item is FREE. Buy 1 item or 100 items and pay just $3.95 shipping. You have 7 days to combine your order and all eligible items must be paid for at the same time. Includes Free Tracking Information. Combine using Shopping Cart. 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Price: 18.5 USD

Location: Saint Paul, Minnesota

End Time: 2024-04-21T17:20:22.000Z

Shipping Cost: 3.95 USD