September’s Treasure of the Month is a fresh from the sea cache of two escudos found by Dan Porter near Fort Pierce on Saturday August 19, 2017. This group of coins is a complement to our Treasure of the Month for August, which featured gold coins found in 1988 in the same location south of Fort Pierce (Douglass Beach, to be exact). Although these coins may be small in number (when compared to the 1988 find) they are large in eye appeal. Despite the fact that they were ocean bound for 302 years they look as bright and sharp as the day they were minted.
Upon close inspection it can be seen that there are at least three, maybe four, Spanish colonial mints represented in this sample Features from Lima, Mexico City, Santa Fe de Bogota are all apparent. One coin (located at the 10:00 o’ clock position) may possibly be from the Cuzco Mint. With only the reverse showing, it is hard to ascertain. But, what is for certain is that this small group was well worth a Saturday afternoon dive.
It is remarkable that two weeks ago these coins were on the bottom of the Atlantic. What is equally remarkable is that 50 years ago news of this recovery would have taken weeks, maybe longer, to be fully publicized. With today’s technology, news of this wonderful find was around the world instantly. Special thanks to Fleet Society member Jonah Martinez who assisted in providing information contained in this text.
