$1,080
Several Spanish documents refer to the Consolacion as a "rich ship." Besides many silver coins that have been recovered in the past years, the ROBCAR salvors have also recovered other interesting and important artifacts. These include: ingots of Copper, Tin, and Lead; Iron artifacts including mule shoes, shovels, and other implements appropriate to mining; Bronze religious medallions, and Bronze decorative pieces used on Church doors.
History: The Consolacion purportedly sank near Santa Clara Island while evading pirated in 1681. She was carrying 146,000 pesos in minted silver coins along with 800 silver bars, and gold ingots valued at 34,000 pesos. The Consolacion was reportedly torched by the crew after they ran aground near Santa Clara Island, located in the Gulf of Guyaquil, Ecuador. Santa Clara Island is also known as "el Muerto" by the locals. Some say it is because from a distance the island looks like a dead man on his back; others say it is because the pirates beheaded the crew of the Consolacion on the island. The Shipwreck of the Santa Maria de la Consolacion was discovered by ROBCAR in 1997. The company has had the official Ecuadorian salvage lease for the wreck site continuously, since that time. Shortly after the wreck was discovered, marine archeologist Robert F. Marx discovered documents and a ship’s manifest in the archives of Spain which identified the wreck.
Description: Iron mule-shoe (lacquered) and two small nails, ex-Consolacion (1681). 67 grams, shoes 4-3/4" x 4", nails 1-1/2" long. Intact U-shaped shoe with lacquer all over for preservation, nail sockets not visible, nails conserved by matte black paint. From the Consolacion (1681), with original (generic) ROBCAR photo-certificate 100033.
Dimensions (mm): Length: 119.32 mm Width: 102.61 mm Thickness: 8.01 mm
Material: Iron
art-2018