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.

What is the median price of a shipwreck coin?

$195 across 569 sold eBay listings in August 2026, with a $373 mean and 322 of those sales closing under $250.

How much does certification add to a shipwreck coin?

In August 2026, slabbed El Cazador 2 reales cleared roughly 2.7x their raw equivalents ($200 vs $75 median), and 8 reales roughly 1.5x ($288 vs $187).

Which wrecks trade most often?

Atocha (124 sales) and El Cazador (91 sales) are the two liquid names. The 1715 Fleet, Concepción and La Capitana trade rarely and at much higher medians.

The eBay Ledger — 569 Shipwreck Coin Sales, August 2026

Every shipwreck coin sold on eBay in August 2026, classified: 569 sales, $212,301 in volume, a $195 median — and the measured premium a slab adds to a wreck coin.

Across 569 shipwreck coin sales on eBay in August 2026 totalling $212,301, the median sale was $195 and the mean $373 — and 322 of those 569 sales, more than half the market, closed under $250. The most actionable number in the study: NGC-slabbed El Cazador 2 reales cleared a $200 median against $75 raw, roughly 2.7x for the holder alone.

What was measured, and how?

We captured sold-and-completed eBay listings on August 27, 2026 from five searches — atocha coin, el cazador coin, 1715 fleet coin, reales cob and shipwreck coins — then classified every sale by wreck attribution, denomination, certification status and whether the coin was mounted as jewellery. Cross-search duplicates were removed by matching listings.

The result is a census of the retail floor of this market: 569 sales, $212,301 in volume, one month.

This is the floor market, and it is an entry market: pendants, Cazador minors and worn land cobs. The auction market is measured separately in Report No. 17.

Where does the money actually trade?

Three structural facts come out of the table. Atocha and El Cazador are the two liquid wreck names, together accounting for 215 of 569 sales. Scarcity shows up as price, not volume: the 1715 Fleet, Concepción and La Capitana traded in the tens or single digits at two to nine times the Atocha median. And the market's centre of gravity sits under $250 — 322 sales, well over half.

Atocha (1622) — 124 — $176 — — — —
El Cazador (1784) — 91 — $188 — $264 — $24,020
1715 Fleet — 17 — $495 — — — —
Concepción (1641) — 10 — $745 — — — —
La Capitana (1654) — 2 — — — $1,772 — —
All listings — 569 — $195 — $373 — $212,301

What is a slab worth on a wreck coin?

This is the report's headline finding, because it is measurable on identical coins. In August 2026 a slabbed El Cazador 2 reales cleared a $200 median while the same coin raw cleared $75 — about 2.7x. On 8 reales the effect was smaller but consistent: $288 slabbed against $187 raw, roughly 1.5x.

Attribution and certification are multipliers; silver weight is not. A $75 raw Cazador minor and a $200 slabbed one are the same coin.

2 reales — $75 — $200 — ≈2.7x
8 reales — $187 — $288 — ≈1.5x

How much of the market moves on offers?

89 of the 569 sales — about one in six — closed through accepted offers rather than at the asking price. That is the practical case for asking. It is also why we price with an offer route on every coin instead of pretending the sticker is the market.

What moved month over month?

The tape firmed at the low end and jumped where it is thin. El Cazador moved from roughly $150 to $175, while the 1715 Fleet's small sample jumped from about $275 to $500. Read thin-tape moves as noise until several months confirm them.

What we would buy from this data

Raw El Cazador 2 reales under $80 — the certification spread is the widest in the study.
Raw El Cazador 8 reales at $110–150 against a $187 raw and $288 slabbed median.
Documented, legible cobs under $250, where more than half of all transactions occur.
Nothing where the wreck name is the only thing supporting the price.

Frequently asked questions

What is the median price of a shipwreck coin? $195 across 569 sold eBay listings in August 2026, with a $373 mean and 322 of those sales closing under $250.
How much does certification add to a shipwreck coin? In August 2026, slabbed El Cazador 2 reales cleared roughly 2.7x their raw equivalents ($200 vs $75 median), and 8 reales roughly 1.5x ($288 vs $187).
Which wrecks trade most often? Atocha (124 sales) and El Cazador (91 sales) are the two liquid names. The 1715 Fleet, Concepción and La Capitana trade rarely and at much higher medians.

Sources

eBay sold-and-completed listings, captured August 27, 2026, via the searches atocha coin, el cazador coin, 1715 fleet coin, reales cob and shipwreck coins
Dark Tide Relics, Market Report No. 19 — The eBay Ledger (full PDF edition, 6 pages)