Recently (March 21 to be exact) we posted a story about our then latest member Jeremy Watherston who was our first Fleet Society member from Australia. A few weeks later I had the chance to talk to Jeremy on the phone via an international connection. (NOTE: Due to the time difference between Australia and the U.S. It was early evening here and early morning in Australia, hence the name of this post “Good Morning Australia”). We had a chance to discuss his interest in the history of the Fleet and his desire to build a collection of Fleet related reales and escudos. Right now he is working to acquire some nice Potosi pieces as well as Bogota and Mexico two escudos gold. Since my focus is mainly coins from the Mexico City mint, I offered my assistance should he ever want to expand his collection into that area.
Jeremy also told me about his interest in the Association which was a 1707 wreck off of the Isles of Scilly, an archipelago near the Cornish coast, in southwest England. He has collected a number of coins from this wreck and it is one of his main interests. (For information about an amazing artifact from the Association that garnered a lot of attention at a recent auction see Lot #252, Daniel Frank Sedwick Treasure Auction 30, November 2021).
From our discussion it was clear that he has been reading up on the 1715 Fleet and his knowledge in this area is impressive.
One of the most enjoyable things I do is reach out to new members and talk to them about why they joined the Society and what they hoped to gain as a member. I have learned a lot about our members in this way. Hopefully, Jeremy and I will talk again soon. In the meantime I am going to help him add to his collection of Fleet coins and keep in touch. I almost forgot to mention that he has extensive knowledge regarding Australian coinage and recently sent me an e-mail about early Australian currency which was really enlightening.
