Are Dark Tide Relics shipwreck coins authentic?

Every shipwreck coin and artifact sold by Dark Tide Relics is authenticated and accompanied by provenance documentation from recognized authorities such as the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society, NGC, or PCGS, plus a permanent digital provenance record via TreasureCheck.ai.

Which shipwrecks does Dark Tide Relics specialize in?

Dark Tide Relics curates artifacts from the Nuestra Señora de Atocha (1622), Santa Margarita, the 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet, El Cazador (1784), SS Central America (1857), Maravillas, Concepción, and other documented Spanish colonial and American Gold Rush wrecks.

How are orders shipped?

All orders ship via FedEx, fully insured and with adult signature required on delivery.

Does Dark Tide Relics buy shipwreck coins from collectors?

Yes. Dark Tide Relics actively acquires authenticated shipwreck coins and collections. Submissions can be made through the Sell Coins program at darktiderelics.com/sell-coins.

Real Casa de la Moneda de Granada

City: Granada, Spain
Mint mark: G
Years active: 1490s–1600s
Metals: Silver, Gold, Copper
Assayers: — Assayer marks not consistently recorded on Catholic Monarchs issues; R Various (16th-century assayers)

Founded in the year of the Reconquista's completion, the Granada mint struck the first Spanish coins to bear the unified arms of Castile, León, Aragon, and the newly conquered Nasrid kingdom.

History

Granada fell to the Catholic Monarchs in January 1492 — the same year Columbus sailed west — and a royal mint was established in the conquered city in the years that followed. The Real Casa de la Moneda de Granada was formally named among the seven Castilian mints in the 1497 Pragmática de Medina del Campo (with Burgos, La Coruña, Cuenca, Segovia, Seville and Toledo), striking reales, half-reales, and gold excelentes under the unified Spanish crown. Granada's coinage of the Catholic Monarchs era is historically significant: it bears the quartered arms of Castile, León, Aragon, and the pomegranate of Granada itself — the first time Nasrid heraldry appeared on Spanish royal coinage. The mintmark is a clear "G," sometimes accompanied by a pomegranate (granada in Spanish) as a punning visual badge. Through the 16th century the Granada mint continued producing silver and gold cobs under Charles V and Philip II, though at a smaller scale than Seville or Toledo. By the early 17th century operations had declined significantly, and the mint was effectively dormant by the mid-1600s. Granada-struck coinage rarely appears on colonial shipwrecks — the mint's peak output predates the great treasure-fleet era — but Catholic Monarchs reales with the "G" mark are highly collected as artifacts of the unified Spanish crown at the dawn of the colonial age.

Notable features

Founded the year of the Reconquista's completion
Mintmark "G," sometimes paired with a pomegranate symbol
Struck the first coins bearing unified Spanish + Nasrid heraldry
Largely dormant after the early 17th century

Coin types

Silver
Gold
Silver

Monarch periods

Ferdinand & Isabella — Mint established in Granada after the 1492 conquest and named among the seven Castilian mints in the 1497 Pragmática.
Joanna & Charles V — Habsburg arms added to coinage. Output continues at moderate scale.
Philip II — Granada mint output declines as Seville and the New World mints dominate Spanish coinage.
Philip III & Philip IV — Mint operates intermittently and is largely dormant by mid-17th century.