Skipsvrak mynt La Boticaria 1664

La Boticaria

This coin came from the wreck of the Spanish merchant ship La Boticaria which sank off the coast of Panama in 1681. The ship was en route from Cartagena, Colombia to Porto Belo, Panama carrying trade goods. I bought this coin and others from a group of local divers who salvaged the wreck in the mid 1970s. The coin is silver and about the size of a US dime. If you look hard enough and use some imagination you may see that the coin is double dated. The reverse has a strong pillers of Hercules and the waves of the Atlantic Ocean, the date 64 for 1664 is clearly visible. The coin shows little effects from its long immersion in the salty brine and probably had good cathartic protection from some ferrous object. This is an exceptional piece of Spanish silver.