A Spanish Doubloon

A small artifact can embody so much history - if only it could speak and tell us its story. Here we have a Spanish doubloon which dates back to the sixteenth century. This piece was found by a diver at Bassas da India atoll off the Mozambican coast near South Africa - a most treacherous reef and graveyard for many ships where salvage divers have recovered many artifacts and Spanish doubloons.

The markings of this coin indicate the Royal Hapsburg family coat of arms which is pictured on the front of this coin. The doubloon's reverse features a "Crusader's Cross," a lion, and a castle. Doubloons were handmade so most of them were not uniformly round and often excess bits would be cut by hand. Doubloons were minted in Spain, Mexico and Peru from the 16th century to the mid-19th century and initially had a two-escudo denomination. In later years, they were also issued in one, four and eight escudo amounts.

If you are interested, please read added links to websites (below) with more information on Spanish doubloons and their history. Let your imagination travel back a few hundred years to an era of gold and silver coins, shipwrecks, pirate lore and sunken treasure.

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Interesting Websites:

List of Most Expensive Coins in the World - Wikipedia

Currency of Spanish America - Wikipedia

Spanish Doubloon

History of the Spanish Doubloon

Spanish Treasure Coins

New World Treasures - Spanish Colonial Coins and Artifacts

Currency of Spanish America

Collectible Spanish Coins - Collector's Weekly

Golden Age Piracy

Iberian Ships

Pirates and Privateers
- Cindy Vallar, Editor & Reviewer