Vliegenthart Shipwreck - 4 Reales Klipped Cob - Dated 163X
$2,800
Denomination: 4 Reales
Mint: Mexico
Assayer: "F" Felipe Rivas de Angulo (1731-1733)
Date: 173X
Weight: 13.42 gm
Reign: Philip V
Description: 4 Reales Mexico minted Spanish Klipe coin. Obverse: Partially visible shield with Mint mark and Assayer initial visible. Dated 173X. Reverse: Top half of Florenzada cross visible with clear lions and castles visible in top quadrants.
History: On February 3rd. 1735. the Dutch East Indiaman Vliegenthart (Flying Hart) left the Netherlands port of Rammekens in company with the the Anna Cartherina, richly laden with money and goods for trading in the East Indies. The displacement of the Vliegenthart was about 850 tons., her length was 145 feet, and she was armed with about 42 guns. In an attempt to steer the vessels through the treacherous sand banks of the Schelde both ships were sunk. The Anna Catherina beaten to pieces on a sand flat, the Vliegenthart, having slipped off a sand bank but holed, went down in deeper water. The sinking where certainly due to pilot errors and every one of the 461 sailors, soldiers and merchants aboard perished. Late in 1981 the wreck was discovered in a very dangerous condition, buried in mud and covered in entrapping fishing nets embedded in the wreck remains. The Vliengenthart carried three chest of gold and silver as trading money for the Dutch East India Company to use in the Indies. One chest was discovered partially intact. In chest number one, gold ducats minted especially for the Company in the mints of Holland and Utrecht were found together with silver pieces of eight and four minted in Mexico City, along with a handful of other coinage mainly pieces of two. These Mexican coins, known as Cobs were roughly cut to the intrinsic weight corresponding to the silver value.
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