Ex 1715 Treasure Fleet

368, Lot: 630. Estimate $1250. Sold for $1500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

COLOMBIA, Colonial. Carlos II or Felipe V. Kings of Spain, 1665-1746. AV 2 Escudos (19mm, 6.79 g, 1h). Nuevo Reino (Santa Fé de Bogotá) mint. Date off flan, but struck circa 1694-1713. Coat-of-arms / Cross potent within ornate double linear quadrilobe. Cf. ME, p. 822, no. 68, second example (for type); cf. KM 14.2 (same). EF.

Ex 1715 Treasure Fleet (lot includes certificate of origin).

The 1715 Treasure Fleet was a Spanish fleet returning with some of the wealth from its colonies in the Americas to Spain. A hurricane sank most of the ships in the fleet (eleven of the twelve ships) in the early morning of 31 July 1715 near present-day Vero Beach, Florida. Because the fleet was carrying silver, it is also known as the 1715 Plate Fleet, since plata in Spanish means silver.