Loosdrecht
The final voyage
Loosdrecht was built in 1714 by the Amsterdam chamber of the VOC and had already completed two round trips to Ceylon before departing Texel on 14 January 1719 under Captain Willem Dekker, bound once again for the East. The voyage lasted barely a week.
On 21 January 1719, Loosdrecht ran aground and was lost off the Isle of Wight, England — close to home, not, as some later popular accounts have claimed, somewhere between the Cape of Good Hope and the Indian Ocean. Little detail survives about the wrecking itself or the fate of those aboard; a complement of up to 250 has been recorded for the ship type, but no confirmed casualty or survivor figure for this voyage has been located.
What was aboard
No surviving cargo manifest for the final voyage has been located despite archival research; museum records describe extensive but inconclusive efforts to document what she carried. Coin types attributed to the site come from decades of diver recovery, not an original invoice.
Outbound trade silver: Dutch and Spanish colonial coin types consistent with VOC outbound cargo have been recovered by the site's principal salvor over many years of diving.
Ship's structure and fittings: Cannon and structural remains, used to identify the wreck by comparison with archival vessel details.
No confirmed main treasure cargo: The site's long-term salvor has stated that no sign of a larger, documented specie cargo has been found despite extensive excavation of the seabed.
How to collect
Correct the location before anything else: Loosdrecht wrecked off the Isle of Wight, England — not off southern Africa. Any listing placing the wreck near the Cape should be treated as an error.
Ask for Receiver of Wreck documentation: UK wreck law requires recovered material to be reported; request that paperwork for any offered coin or artifact.
Be cautious of 'main treasure' claims: The site's own long-term salvor reports no confirmed larger specie cargo found, despite extensive searching.
Check coin dating against the 1719 loss: Genuine site material should predate January 1719; anything later is inconsistent with this wreck.