Golden Fleece Shipwreck 2 Reales Pendant

Description:

This is a genuine silver coin salvaged from the Spanish "Golden Fleece" shipwreck that sank circa 1550 in international waters west of Cuba. The shipwreck site was discovered in 1993 and became known as the "Golden Fleece" for the royal stampings on recovered gold bars and silver ingots which bear the stamp of the “Order of the Golden Fleece.” Spanish King Charles I (1516 – 1555) was credited for reviving the Order of the Golden Fleece in the early 1500s.
There were only several thousand silver coins recovered from this Caribbean Sea shipwreck but they are among the very first coins minted in the New World. The Mexican mint opened in 1536 under the joint reign of mother “Johanna the Mad” and her son Charles I. During their reign, the territories in New Spain were considerably extended by conquistadores like Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro, who caused the Aztec and Inca empires to fall in little more than a decade. The Spanish soon discovered untold riches in the Americas and with their fleets of mighty galleons, they became the premier supplier of gold and silver coins for the world.
This 16th century hand struck coin features the Pillars of Hercules on the obverse side. The reverse shows the King Charles & Johanna crowned coat of arms with the “M” Mexico and “G” assayer mintmarks. Coins from the “Golden Fleece" shipwreck are among the finest ever salvaged from that era and are very similar to those recovered from the 1554 fleet which sank off of Padre Island, Texas.