Latest news with #ARC-DIMAR
NZ Herald
2 days ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
Wreck with $35b of treasure ‘confirmed' as Spanish galleon, says researchers
Gold and silver coins, pearls and gems, claimed to be worth as much as $35 billion in current prices, were aboard the San Jose. Coins found on the wreck are under investigation in Colombia. Photo / ARC-DIMAR via Antiquity The ship's sinking dented the Spanish effort in the war, which ended with Britain gaining Gibraltar, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. Academics in Colombia now claim to have confirmed that the wreck found in 2015 is the San Jose. Using underwater drones, they photographed cargo scattered on and around the wreckage. Analysis of the images found silver coins, minted in 1707 with the hallmarks of the mint at Lima, Peru, among the debris. Other finds included Chinese porcelain from the Kangxi period (1662-1722) and inscriptions on cannons that dated to 1665. The finds suggest the wreckage is of a ship that sank in the early 18th century. 'This body of evidence substantiates the identification of the wreck as the San Jose galleon, a hypothesis that has been put forward since its initial discovery in 2015,' the academics said. Analysis of images found silver coins among the wreckage. Photo / ARC-DIMAR via Antiquity. 'The finding of cobs [Spanish-American dollars] created in 1707 at the Lima Mint points to a vessel navigating the Tierra Firme route in the early 18th century. The San Jose Galleon is the only ship that matches these characteristics. 'This find presents a rare opportunity to explore an underwater archaeological site and deepen our understanding of colonial maritime trade and routes.' The analysis will likely deepen a battle over the legal ownership of the wreckage. Claims have been made by Colombia, Spain, Peru, indigenous communities in the area, descendants of miners who dug up the treasure, and Glocca Morra, the treasure-hunting firm, which says it found the wreck as far back as 1981. Glocca Morra's new owners, Sea Search Armada, insist that the galleon was found within a mile or two of the co-ordinates of its 1981 discovery. The company, which is claiming almost $18b, is also challenging a 2020 law that deemed everything on the ship was Colombian Government property. The researchers added: 'Coins are crucial artefacts for dating and understanding material culture, particularly in shipwreck contexts. '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.' An 8-escudos cob of 1707, based on high-resolution in situ photographs from the 2022 archaeological campaign. Photo / Antiquity The findings follow previous carbon-dating analysis of the wreckage that indicated it was approximately 300 years old. The ship's cargo will not be recovered from the seafloor until the wreckage is 'fully characterised' using 'non-invasive surveys'. With the galleon lying several hundred metres below the surface, it is too deep for human exploration. The study is published in the journal Antiquity.
CTV News
2 days ago
- Science
- CTV News
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.
New York Post
2 days ago
- General
- New York Post
Shipwreck treasure worth $20B found near Colombia -- coins could be the 'holy grail' proof
Officials claim they used coins discovered inside a shipwreck off the coast of Colombia to prove the underwater graveyard is the legendary San José that was carrying a $20 billion treasure when it sank. 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.
