Joanna

The final voyage

Johanna (also spelled Joanna), a 515–600 ton English East India Company ship on her sixth voyage, left the Downs on 24 February 1682 under Captain Robert Brown, bound for Surat in a convoy with four other Company ships. She carried a crew of about 110, 36 guns, European trade goods, and roughly 70 chests of Spanish silver 'pieces of eight' intended to purchase Indian textiles. [1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johanna_(East_Indiaman)) [2](https://sahistory.org.za/article/johanna)

After days of poor visibility prevented an accurate position fix, Brown believed the ship was well clear of land and ordered a course change; instead Johanna struck an outer reef near Quoin Point, in the Cape Agulhas region, in the early hours of 8 June 1682. She was the first English East Indiaman lost on the South African coast. Ten people died; the remaining crew, reported at about 104, reached shore and were guided to Cape Town by local people. Dutch Cape governor Simon van der Stel dispatched a recovery party under Olof Bergh, which salvaged part of the silver before the site was largely forgotten for three centuries. [3](https://sahistory.org.za/article/johanna)

What was aboard

No surviving EIC cargo manifest for this specific voyage was located in the sources reviewed; figures below come from period English East India Company and South African historical accounts of the loss and salvage.

Silver specie: Approximately 70 chests of Spanish silver pieces of eight, carried for the Company's Surat textile purchases.

European trade goods: Lead, copper, and other manufactured goods intended for sale or use by colonists and Company factors.

1982 recovery: Treasure hunters reported recovering some 23,000 coins and several hundred kilograms of silver from the site in 1982.

How to collect

Confirm which salvage produced the piece: Distinguish material attributable to the 1682 Bergh recovery (institutional, VOC-era) from the 1982 private salvage (dispersed to collectors).

Corroborate the '1982' story: The three-centuries-later rediscovery is a well-reported detail; a seller's account should be consistent with the documented 8 June 1682 date.

Check South African export/heritage compliance: Material removed from South African waters is subject to national heritage legislation; ask for the relevant permit history.

Verify coin type against the cargo: Spanish colonial 'pieces of eight' of pre-1682 mint dates are consistent with the documented cargo; later-dated coins are not.