Image Credit: Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro (centre), looks at a cannon recovered from the San José. Photograph: Colombian presidency/AFP/Getty Images
Cannon, three coins and a cup taken from San José, a 1708 wreckage that could hold items worth billions of dollars
A cannon, three coins and a porcelain cup are among the first objects recovered by Colombian scientists from the depths of the Caribbean Sea where the legendary Spanish galleon San José sank in 1708 after being attacked by a British fleet.
The recovery is part of a scientific investigation authorised by the government last year to study the wreckage and the causes of the sinking. Colombian researchers located the galleon in 2015, leading to legal and diplomatic disputes. Its exact location is a state secret.
The San José was returning to Europe with treasures to help fund the war of the Spanish succession when it was sunk by a British squadron close to the Caribbean port city of Cartagena.
The ship, known as the “holy grail of shipwrecks”, is believed to hold 11m gold and silver coins, emeralds and other precious cargo from Spanish-controlled colonies, which could be worth billions of dollars if ever recovered.
Read the full article on The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/21/san-jose-shipwreck-billions-treasure-artifacts-colombia
