Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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Illustration in DisneyEveryDay.com Blog.
See link below.
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Recently I did some posts on some of the older coins found on the Treasure Coast. That brings up the Green Cabin wreck, which is thought to date to 1618, nearly a hundred years before the 1715 Fleet wrecks, and therefore the source of many of the oldest Treasure Coast coins. I received emails from both Dan B. and JamminJack mentioning the Green Cabin wreck as the source of older coins.
The DisneyEveryDay.com blog presents an entertaining Disney-style discussion of the Green Cabin wreck, which is just south of the Vero Disney resort. If not entirely accurate, the article is at least entertaining.
By the way, if you've never seen it, the Vero Disney resort has, or had, a shipwreck artifact display. If it is still there, you might be able to see it if you make dinner reservations. All of the items that were in the display were not from the Green Cabin wreck. There was, for example, a cannon ball and coins from the Jupiter wreck.
Here is a web site that gives a brief overview of the Green Cabin wreck.For a more detailed and historically accurate description of the Green Cabin wreck, see The 1618 Wreck of the San Martín, Almiranta de Honduras, by Dave Horner, edited by Cori Sedwick Downing.
Here is that link.
https://www.sedwickcoins.com/ta19/san_martin.pdf
Concerning the coins from the Green Cabin wreck, here is one paragraph from the Sedwick article.
In all, over 3000 silver coins and numerous artifacts were recovered. The gold ring was the only item of gold found. It was probably on the finger of one of those who perished in the storm over 300 years before. All the coins were from the reign of Philip II (1556-1598) and Philip III (1598-1621). Many of the coins were heavily oxidized, pitted, or worn from the abrasive action of the sand and many years on the bottom of the sea. Other coins were easily recognizable as coins, and a surprising number of them still retained their original design. A few of the prime specimens retained their dates, partial dates, and/or mint marks.
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One correction - yesterday I gave an upper date range for one or two of the old coins as 1516. While that is correct for Juana and Carlos coins, but for Carlos I coins the upper date range would be 1556.
I also noticed a Lima crowned-pillars style coin similar to JamminJack's holed one-reale listed in Monedas Espanolas desede Juana Y Carlos a Isabel II: 1504 a 1868 as a Fillip II coin (type 322, page 100). It seemed out of place to me, but I'm sure that the authors of that reference had reason for putting it where they did even though all of the other Fillip II coins are very dissimilar.
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Laura Strolia, author of The Marigalera of the 1715 Fleet and historian of the Spanish colonial period with a special interest in the religious history, had a few comments on the religious medallion that I posted yesterday. Below is what she said.
I think Rome produced a good number of medals for the Catholic populations of English-speaking lands, such as Scotland and Ireland. The item should read “St. James Apostle.” My guess it was lost in the second half of the 18
th
century. It is a unique specimen of history, suggesting there were Catholics in the British Regiment at St. Augustine.
Heavy corrosion obscured any sign of "St. James" on the medallion. I assume it would be on the left side of the medallion opposite the word Apostle, which you can see on the right side.
Author Strolia is nearing completion of a new book that you'll want to watch for.
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The Treasure Coast surf is still in the 2 - 4 foot range, and the tides are still pretty big.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
