Shipwreck treasure worth $20B found near Colombia -- coins could be the 'holy grail' proof
The Colombian government used an unmanned vehicle to inspect the wreckage of the 18th-century vessel to prove it has found the lost Spanish galleon.
The underwater craft carried out a non-intrusive investigation to document areas of the shipwreck that have yet to be photographed that contained coin-like objects, according to a study from Antiquity.
7 Coins discovered in a hoard area of the stern of the shipwreck off the coast of Colombia.
ARC-DIMAR 2022/VARGAS ARIZA ET AL. ANTIQUITY 2025
Coins found in a hoard area in the ship's stern were photographed and analyzed.
Scientists used photogrammetry on the images to produce 3-D models of the treasure, along with models of similar coins, to determine its age and origin.
Engraved markings revealed the coins were minted back in 1707 in Lima, Peru.
Heraldic symbols were discovered to bear the crests of the crowns of Castile and Leon indicating a Hispanic galleon, the study found.
The coins also bear a Jerusalem Cross, Columns of Hercules, sea waves, and symbols denoting the Lima mint and the number 8 for 'Escudo de 8,' the type of coin.
'Coins are crucial artifacts for dating and understanding material culture, particularly in shipwreck contexts,' lead researcher Daniela Vargas Ariza in the study. '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.'
7 Heraldic symbols were discovered to bear the crests of the crowns of Castile and Leon indicating a Hispanic galleon, the study found.
ARC-DIMAR 2022/VARGAS ARIZA ET AL. ANTIQUITY 2025
7 The shipwreck of what is believed to be the San José sits at the bottom of the ocean off the coast of Colombia.
Presidencia de la República – Colombia
Vargas Ariza is from the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (ICANH).
The San José was the flagship vessel of the Flota de Tierra Firme, a fleet tasked with transporting the treasures from South America across the Atlantic back to the Spanish Empire to South America during the War of the Spanish Succession.
During one voyage, the doomed ship was struck by a British warship during an ambush and sank on June 8, 1708.
The prized haul is believed to include emerald, gold, and silver worth as much as $20 billion.
7 The San José galleon explodes after an ambush from a British warship during the June 8, 1708, battle off Cartagena, Colombia.
7 Tea cups were discovered buried in the sand among the wreckage.
Colombian Presidency/AFP via Get
The resting place for the ship was unknown until at least the late 20th century, when the American company Glocca Morra — now Sea Search Armada — claimed to have discovered a shipwreck off the coast of Colombia.
The company shared the coordinates with the Colombian government in a deal that would net them half the fortune of treasure on board, approximately $10 billion.
Colombian officials say they've never found a shipwreck at the coordinates but claim they found the missing San José in an undisclosed location in 2015.
7 The prized haul is believed to include emerald, gold, and silver worth as much as $20 billion.
Colombian Presidency/AFP via Get
Sea Search has sued the Colombian Government under the US-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement believing the country found part of the same debris field in 2015 that it first discovered 34 years earlier.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has ordered the shipwreck to be preserved and the treasure exhumed from the bottom of the ocean by the time his term ends in 2026.
In 2024, Colombia proclaimed the shipwreck to be a 'protected archeological area' that would ensure its 'long-term preservation.'
Colombia's culture ministry said it 'guarantees the protection of heritage' and would allow for the 'development of research, conservation and valuation activities,' the AFP reported.
7 The resting place for the ship was unknown until at least the late 20th century.
ARC-DIMAR 2022/VARGAS ARIZA ET AL. ANTIQUITY 2025
Petro initially wanted to bring the 62-gun, three-masted ship to the surface and had requested a public-private partnership be formed.
No official declaration of discovery has been made of the San José.
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Two JAL employees – maintenance manager Hiroo Tominaga, and engineer Susumu Tajima, who had inspected JA8119 after the tailstrike incident, and had declared it airworthy – took their own lives, buckling beneath the psychological burden of the disaster. Forty years on, the crash site is home to a memorial; two unadorned stone triangles, set against the slope. The relatives of the dead gather there every August 12, perhaps taking small consolation from Mount Takamagahara's place in Japanese folklore as a parallel to Greece's Mount Olympus; a heavenly home of the gods. There are more tangible echoes as well. Not least the Safety Promotion Center, a museum attached to Haneda Airport, which examines the causes of the disaster, and the lessons to be learnt from it. Among its artefacts are fragments of the plane, and farewell letters written by its passengers in the 32 unthinkable minutes when they were probably aware that they were going to die. JAL has recovered to be Japan's second biggest airline, but suffered an inevitable decline in the wake of Flight 123; passenger numbers fell by a third in the next year, as a wary public avoided the brand. Nonetheless, not everyone affected by the crash was put off flying. Captain Takahama's daughter Yoko became a flight attendant, working for JAL. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Solve the daily Crossword
