Treasure 101 ( Part #1)
As I had promised in a previous post; I thought it would be good for all investors, potential investors and interested viewers to have some additional information on the treasure salvaging Industry. I decided that part #1 would be some general ideas of what may be found on the Juno site. My part #2 will discuss some valuations on possible finds based on some historical treasure finds, treasure salvors retail sales of treasure and auction results and some websites of interest for you own research.
We must make a few assumptions first-
The wreck at Juno Beach is a Spanish treasure galleon from between the 1500's to 1700's.
Now that we have established our assumption above; then; what could be part of this cargo or other items of value;
1. Since we assumed this is a treasure galleon then it will have various armaments such as large cannons of various calibers, smaller swivel cannons ( one of these were found on the 1715 Fleet last summer and stuffed inside was a bag of contraband - gold coins). It will also have remains of rifles, pistols and swords. All of these items have value in the hundreds of dollars to six figures possible depending on rarity of the weapons.
2. Nautical artifacts, tableware, silverware, candlesticks, and any other various items you would find of any ship of that time. All of these items will have various values.
3. 8,4,and 2 Escudo's which were the primary gold coin mintage of the time. The 8 Escudo would be similar in size to a current U.S. one ounce gold coin. The 4 is the close to a 50 cent piece and a 2 Escudo is the size of a 25 cent piece. The most common Escudo that was minted was the 2 Escudo. The 8 is the rarer of the three.
4. 8,4, and 2 Reale which is the primary silver coin mintage of the time. The 8 Reale is the most famous of the coin mintages and more commonly known in the movies as the " piece of eight". The 8 Reale is the most common of the silver mintages.
5. Gold bars ( usually finger bars or rounds) these will have Spanish mint marks on the surface. Silver bars that will also have mint marks and usually will be much bigger in size and weight than the gold bars. Gold Chains were also minted in the day and not so much for jewelry but as another form of currency. A link or two could be cut off to be used for paying for goods or services.
6. Loose emeralds ( from South America)- found considerable amount of these on the Atocha ( 1624 wreck)
7. Last but not least would be jewelry. Most of the jewelry will be gold and may or may not have gemstones. The most common forms of jewelry will consist of rings, necklaces, and many religious jewelry ( crosses, etc). The jewelry can be most exciting items recovered because you really will never know what could have been on the ship. These items will never be on any manifest and would be personal items of the passengers or crew. The earlier the ship the more interesting the these types of artifacts could be and the value on these can be substantial for the historical values.
I hope this general information will be of assistance to everyone of what may be some of the finds going forward if the assumptions are correct.
Stay tuned for part #2.
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