Written by the Treasureguide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Late Series Coin From 1554 Padre Island Wreck Source: See npr.com link below. |
I've been posting some of my old notes on Florida sites where old Spanish coins have been found in Florida, but also some of my notes on sites outside of Florida, especially those that have produced large numbers of coins in the form of a cache or hoard and are of special interest because of their numismatic and historical value.
As of the first printing of Alan Craig's book (2000), Spanish Colonial Siver Coins in the Florida Collection, there were none of the 16th century Charles and Johann coins listed as being in the collection. I was surprised by that and would be surprised if there are still none in the Florida Collection since some of the 16th century wreck sites have been worked by salvage crews I, although not as extensively as some of the 1715 wrecks. In the past I posted some of the Charles and Johanna coins found on Treasure Coast beaches in recent years as well as silver splash ingots from the same period.
While 16th century Spanish coins have been found on the Treasure Coast, the Padre Island wrecks are the source for many 16th century shipwreck coins, including some "early series" Charles and Johanna coins.
According to the Texas Historical Commisioin, The discovery, salvage, and excavations of the 1554 Spanish Plate fleet at Padre Island are inarguably one of the most important underwater archeological discoveries of the 20th century. These shipwrecks remain the oldest confirmed underwater archeological sites in the United States and Gulf of Mexico.
Padre Island National Seashore is fortunate to have the National Park Service's largest collection of coins from the Spanish Colonial era. During the time of their use, these coins were called reales... Many of these coins came from the wrecks of three Spanish ships that went aground during a storm in 1554. However, some may have come from other ships that wrecked on the island or may have washed up from shipwrecks elsewhere in the Gulf. There are undoubtedly other sources as well. Some of these pieces are quite rare...
Source: The 1554 Spanish Plate Fleet | THC.Texas.gov - Texas Historical Commission.
Here are the basic design elements common to all Carlos and Johanna coins. Note that exceptions may exist for some of the design elements.
The front side has the crowned heraldic shield of Leon and Castile: a shield containing two lions and two castles. To the left of the shield usually is an initial (first name or surname depending upon the period) of the assayer. The assayer was the person in charge of the mint that produced the coins. Sometimes, the assayer's initial can be an indication of when the coin was made, but not always. Usually, to the right of the coin is an abbreviation of the name of the mint that produced the coin. On all our coins will be seen "M", which stood for Mexico City, where the first mint in the new world was established in one of Montezuma's palaces that had been seized by Hernando Cortez. Underneath the shield is a pomegranate. Around the edge of the coin is a variation of (due to space concerns and possibly other reasons) the Latin "CAROLVS ET IOHANA REGES", which means "Carlos and Johanna Rulers". This was continued on the reverse.
The reverse side has two columns representing the "Pillars of Hercules", which is an ancient name for the Strait of Gibraltar that lies between Spain and Morocco and is the gateway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. One or more dots or a number denotes the denomination of the coin (one dot is one real, two dots is two reales, etc.). Continuing the royal title from the front and around the edge was some variation of "HISPANIARVM ET INDIARVM", which means "of the Spains and Indies". Thus, the entire title reading from the front stated, "CARLOS AND JOHANNA RULERS OF THE SPAINS AND INDIES."
As subsets of the basic design are two series of Carlos and Johanna reales. The first was made between 1539 and 1542 and are called the early series. There are maybe a few hundred of this series in existence today. The National Seashore is fortunate to possess a few of these. The later series was made between 1542 and 1572 after a new set of dies and a slightly altered design for making coins arrived at the Mexico City mint.
The three basic differences between the two series are:
The late series has waves at the feet of the Pillars of Hercules.
The early series had the single world "PLUS" in banner across the Pillars. "PLUS" was an abbreviation of the Latin "PLUS ULTRA", which means "more beyond". This meant that there was more (wealth, land, etc.) beyond the pillars of Hercules. On the late series, "PLUS ULTRA" was written across the pillars, though sometimes it was abbreviated for reasons of space...
Spanish coins - Padre Island National Seashore (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
To see some of the examples of Charles and Johann coins found on the Treasure Coast, here are some links to previous blog posts.
Most of the found Charles and Johanna coins are late series. That includes those found on Padre Island as well as Florida.
Sedwick Coins provides an article on how to tell the difference between the early and late series coins too.
When I started to do this post, I intended to go through my notes but ended up posting a lot of stuff from the internet. That is probably better, and it was quicker for me. Since my notes, a lot of information has been posted online.
My notes referred to a time when treasure hunters were doing hydraulic mining on Padre Island. I remember seeing a clipping showing the sand being blasted away. Couldn't find it today. Imagine being able to blow away the sand like that. Of course, now metal detecting is prohibited on Padre Island, and you are told to leave any coins you might see while beach combing and tell the park rangers where you saw the coin.
Very often amateur detectorists, treasure hunters or archaeologists make the original discovery of what turns out to be an important archaeological site.
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Looks like the weather and beach conditions won't be changing for a while.
Good hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net