Princess Louisa

Treasure Coin of the Princess Louisa

This specimen is a genuine Spanish cob treasure coin salvaged from the East Indiaman Princess Louisa. The ship was lost in 1743 on Galleons Reef in treacherous waters off the Cape Verde Islands. When she sank, the Princess Louisa was carrying Spanish Colonial cob coinage from the New World mints of Potosi, Lima, Mexico and Bogota. The coins, cut to weight according to the Spanish monetary system and then hand-struck between two crudely engraved dies, were to be used to purchase silks, spices and other valuable goods from the East.

An effort to salvage the shipwreck in 1744 was unsuccessful as were numerous later attempts. In a 1998-1999 expedition, a well known marine archaeological recovery company, Arqueonauras, located and recovered the historical treasure of the Princess Louisa.