Ex 1715 Plate Fleet

CNG 106, Lot: 1023. Estimate $5000. Sold for $12000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PERU, Colonial. Felipe V. King of Spain, first reign, 1700-1724. AV 8 Escudos (29.5mm, 27.06 g, 10h). Lima mint. Dated (1)712 L M. Coat-of-arms / Crowned pillars of hercules set on ocean waves. Calicó 438; KM 38.2; Friedberg 7. EF.

From the Norman Frank Collection. Ex Baldwin’s 24 (9 October 2000), lot 401; Kip Wagner Collection (sold privately to F.S. Werner and Spink); 1715 ‘Plate Fleet’.

The 1715 Treasure Fleet was a Spanish fleet returning with some of the wealth from its colonies in the Americas to Spain. A hurricane sank most of the ships in the fleet (eleven of the twelve ships) in the early morning of 31 July 1715 near present-day Vero Beach, Florida. Because the fleet was carrying silver, it is also known as the 1715 Plate Fleet, since plata in Spanish means silver. The wrecks were salvaged by the Real Eight Company, founded by Kip Wagner, from whose collection this piece originates.