Tying in our Cover Coin(s) with the debut of the 1715 Fleet Society story, we have selected three dated pieces from the sites of the 1715 Spanish Silver Fleet. These three pieces of gold are scheduled to be auctioned off at Sedwick’s “Treasure and World Coin Auction 11” coming up on April 10-11, 2012 (see p. 10).
The dated sides of this trio are displayed on page-1. Top to bottom we have a 1710 H Lima one-escudo piece, a 1712 M eight-escudos, and a 1713 Bogotá two-escudos. The Lima 1E exhibits a single, centered castle, bracketed by the mint mark “L” to the left and the assayer initial “H” to the right—all surmounting the date 1710 and surrounded by pellets. The cross-hatch pattern of the Lima 8E displays the familiar L || 8 || M (Lima / 8 / Melgarejo) across the top tier, P. || V. || A. (Plvs Vltr A) on the middle row, and the 7 || 1 || 2 of the date along the bottom row, the pillars, bars, and waves creating windows for those characters.
The 712 of the date is repeated in the legend at the upper left of the piece. Appearing on the cross side of the “Bogie”, the date is at about 10:00 o’clock in the peripheral legend. Just outboard of the circlet there one can see the “7” of the date, then the “1” and “3” in order to the right (CW). Here on page-2 are the “opposite” sides of the three fleet coins. The Lima 1E at the top simply shows a bold cross within a quatrefoil tressure within a ring of pellets. Below that, the Lima 8E also displays a bold cross, without a tressure but with lions and castles in its quadrants.
Some of the legend on this piece may be discerned. The “Bogie” at the bottom shows us parts of the abbreviated shield typical of the Colombian mints. All in all, these are very collectible pieces, very representative of gold coins of the 1715 Fleet. Photos by Augi Garcia, Courtesy of Sedwick Coins, LLC.
—EJR
