New images reveal treasures aboard ‘holy grail’ shipwreck

Coins known as cobs in the San José galleon shipwreck in the Colombian Caribbean. (Daniela Vargas Ariza, Antonio Jaramillo Arango, Jesús Alberto Aldana Mendoza, Carlos Del Cairo Hurtado, Juan David Sarmiento Rodriguez/ARC-DIMAR 2022 via CNN Newsource)

New research revealing details of gold coins found aboard a shipwreck off Colombia provides further evidence that the vessel was the San José galleon, a 300-year-old Spanish warship believed to contain artifacts worth billions of dollars.

Scientists used an unmanned underwater vehicle to survey the wreck and captured images of some of its cargo, according to a study published in the journal Antiquity on Tuesday.

They then used photogrammetry to make three-dimensional reconstructions of the coins, revealing a Jerusalem cross and heraldic symbols of the crowns of the Spanish monarchs of Castile and León.

They also uncovered symbols showing that the coins were minted in Lima, Peru, in 1707, proving the shipwreck occurred after that date.

Historical records show that the San José was part of a shipping fleet known as the Flota de Tierra Firme.

It was one of a number of ships in the fleet that left Peru in 1707 carrying a large amount of royal cargo, but records show that it never reached Spain, instead sinking off Colombia following a battle with British forces in 1708.

Researchers say the coins strengthen the case that this is indeed the San José, often called the “holy grail of shipwrecks.”

“Hand-struck, irregularly shaped coins — known as cobs in English and macuquinas in Spanish — served as the primary currency in the Americas for more than two centuries,” lead researcher Daniela Vargas Ariza from Colombia’s national history and anthropology institute (ICANH) said in a statement published Tuesday.

“The Tierra Firme Fleet, commanded by the San José Galleon, held the exclusive monopoly on transporting royal treasures between South America and the Iberian Peninsula,” she said.

“This find presents a rare opportunity to explore an underwater archaeological site and deepen our understanding of eighteenth-century maritime trade and routes,” said Vargas Ariza.

Study author Jesús Alberto Aldana Mendoza, an archaeologist specializing in underwater cultural heritage, told CNN that it was “very surprising to find them during our research and to be able to analyze them so closely.”

The project “has been able to study the artifacts from the site like never before, as it has managed to link archaeological material with historical documents,” he added.

Since it sank, the ship has lain undisturbed off the coast of the Caribbean port city of Cartagena, despite the historical significance of the artifacts contained in it, which are worth an estimated $17 billion, due to an ongoing multi-billion-dollar legal battle.

While the Colombian government maintains that it first discovered the San José in 2015 with help from international scientists, its claims have been disputed by a US-based marine salvage company named Sea Search-Armada (SSA), formerly known as Glocca Morra, which argues that it discovered the shipwreck in the early 1980s.

SSA has launched a legal battle against the Colombian government in the international Permanent Court of Arbitration, claiming it is entitled to approximately $10 billion — half the estimated value of the shipwreck’s treasure. The Colombian government disputes SSA’s claims.