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Wouldn't it be fun to find one of these just laying on the beach? I has has happened many times down in the Caribbean. These particular gold chains were found laying on the bottom of the ocean in not particularly deep water. Spanish and other shipwrecks have littered the Caribbean with lost treasures. Today I'm going back to share another coin from the British Virgin Islands coin series: Sunken Ship Treasures of the Caribbean. These were made in 1985 to commemorate all the lost ships and treasures that have been lost to the seas over the centuries. The coin today is the Golden Bracelet.
About the coin:
From numista.com
Not my best photography job on this one, I was adjusting the lighting to make it better and just made it worse! This coin was made by The Franklin Mint located in Wawa, Pennsylvania, US. They produced some of the best collectible coins and bars throughout the 1970's and 1980's, all in sterling silver. Sadly they no longer deal in precious metals production. These are great to collect or stack since they are 92.5% silver and if you shop around they aren't too expensive. I'm still missing a couple from this set but haven't found the right price quite yet to pick them up.
Gold Money Chains and Bracelets
After the Spanish conquistadores arrived in the new world they began to plunder as much gold and other treasures as possible. However, unlike Europe, there weren't mints available at first to turn the gold into coins. The solution was money chains. Links could be cut off of the chain to use for payment for goods or services instead of using gold coins since there were almost no coins to be found. Much of the gold was converted into bars or chains for transport to Spain, along with silver bars, emeralds, and pearls.
How were they lost?
Ship wrecks were common in the 1600's and 1700's and many treasure ships loaded with gold were lost in the Caribbean. You can read my post from last week about the loss of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha and the 1715 treasure fleet if you want more information with this link:@thebighigg/more-silver-from-the-british-virgin-islands
Where have they been found?
The Nuestra Señora de Atocha has produced some of the most money chains and bracelets ever recovered. The wooden wreck of the ship is long gone, deteriorated over four hundred years at the the ocean bottom. But the treasure is still there buried often under centuries of sand that have buried them. The picture at the start of the post was found among the wreckage of the Atocha. It must have been quite a thrill to find that laying on the sea floor!
The 1715 fleet lost much more treasure along the treasure coast of Florida. It's really a certainty that many gold money chains were washed up on the beach and buried under centuries of sand and are still waiting to be found. Some coins and artifacts still wash up in severe storms and hurricanes. Treasure was also washed into the mangrove swamps on the other side of the beach. There is plenty of treasure just waiting to be found. Finding it is the hard part!
These aren't the only ships lost full of treasure, there have been losses all over the Caribbean!
icollector.com
A gold money chain found in the wreckage of the Atocha.
I have read accounts over the years of people finding something gold colored on the beach and it turned out to be a coin or a money chain. A woman in the Cayman Islands found a money chain lying in the surf. I myself have searched along the Florida treasure coast with my metal detector but came home empty handed. There is a lot of luck involved, but also a lot research required to know where to look and when. But the thrill of thinking maybe next time will be my lucky day keeps us treasure hunters looking for more lost treasure!
I hope you enjoyed my coin today, and the information about money chains. It would be exhilarating to come across a treasure like this these. I hope you all have a great Wednesday and rest of the week.
And since I am posting in the #freecompliments community I just wanted to remind everyone to take some time today to be kind. A little kindness can make a huge difference in someone's life. Please check out the community and consider joining us!
And my disclaimer:
Gold and silver collecting and stacking can be a fun hobby but isn't for everyone. You can lose money. I'm not a financial advisor and this isn't financial advice, please always do your own research before spending your hard earned money.
All pictures are mine unless otherwise noted.
References:
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces44620.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuestra_Se%C3%B1ora_de_Atocha
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Margarita_(shipwreck)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1715_Treasure_Fleet
If you are interested in precious metals or even want to learn more about them feel free to come join us #silvergoldstackers
