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Sale 28
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Lot 2790
Spanish Colonies. "1715 Fleet" Treasure Artifact: Gold Ingot. Circa 1715. Small "finger ingot." The bar elongated and narrow, and roughly trapezoidal in section. Piece with faintly reddish-brown patina in the recesses. Size: 3-¼ x 9/16". Weight: about 87.79 grams. Bar broken at crystallized section of the casting, otherwise finely preserved and softly lustrous.
Maritime historians accord the 1715 wreck of the Spanish plate fleet as one great sea disasters recorded. The story begins with the rendezvous of eleven Spanish ships at the harbor of Havana in July 1715. These vessels came heavily laden, having spent the previous months at various Latin American ports loading treasure, bullion, and cargo. A fleet consisting of a combination of two fleets: the cargo ships, known as the Galeones de Tierra Firme, and the New Spain Flota, were formed under the joint command of Captain-General Juan Esteban de Ubilla and Don Antonio de Echeverez. On the 27th of July the enlarged fleet weighed anchor and set sail for Spain. As a precaution they traveled a northeasterly course, through the Florida Straits and up the east coast of Florida, keeping the Florida coast in sight for as long as possible, before they would have caught the trade winds that would take them across the Atlantic and to Spain. But they never made it that far. On the night of July 30-31, the weather changed rapidly, and the fleet soon found itself engulfed in a vicious hurricane.
Ten of the eleven galleons were smashed to pieces in the nearby coral reefs along the east coast of Florida, between what is now Cape Canaveral and Fort Pierce. Both Echeverez and Ubilla were victims of the storm before the night was over. The one transport ship to survive was the French ship, El Grifon, sailing under the Spanish flag. Ironically, this was because the captain, Don Antonio Dare, had disobeyed fleet orders and was traveling further north and away from the fleet, and so managed to stay clear of the reefs. All told eleven ships went down, and nearly half of the 2,500 lives on board were lost. In terms of registered treasure, perhaps something in the order of close to 150 million dollars in today's money was lost. The Spanish mounted salvage attempts almost immediately after the tragedy, but the area over which the wreckage was spread was too large for them to be entirely successful. Some of the salvages were successful, but the majority of the cargo was lost to the ocean.
This loss was certainly a blow to King Philip's fiscal expectations for the year, and sizable enough to create disturbances in the Spanish economy for a number of years. King Philip V of Spain was first of the new Bourbon (French) dynasty to mount the throne of Spain. And this was accomplished by war, both in Spain and abroad. And during wartime, it becomes difficult at times, if not impossible, to continue the fleet system of transporting New World treasure back to Spain. Huge backlogs had developed and remedy was now desperately needed. Thus Spain's financial situation was surely motivation to assemble this transport loaded with vast treasure from the New World. A venture which was lost to the capriciousness of the New World seas.
Estimated Value $1,750 - 2,250.
Ex. "1715 Fleet".
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| Realized $1,668 |
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