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.

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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.

Joanna

Lost: 1682
Location: Quoin Point, Cape Agulhas region, South Africa
Coordinates: -34.7500, 19.6000
Era: Spanish Colonial – Late 17th Century
Coinage: cob
Discovered by: South African sport divers
Recovery: 1982
Cargo: Spanish silver reales, Chests of specie, EIC trade goods

English East India Company ship wrecked on an outer reef near Quoin Point, in the Cape Agulhas region, with seventy chests of silver for the Surat trade.

History

The Johanna (also spelled Joanna) sailed for the English East India Company in 1682, bound for Surat with about 70 chests of Spanish silver "pieces of eight" — the specie the EIC used for the Indian textile trade. After days of poor visibility, she struck an outer reef near Quoin Point, in the Cape Agulhas region, in the early hours of 8 June 1682, the first English East Indiaman lost on the South African coast. Ten people died; the rest reached shore and were guided to Cape Town.

Recovery

Dutch Cape governor Simon van der Stel dispatched a recovery party under Olof Bergh within weeks, which salvaged part of the silver. The site was rediscovered by South African divers in 1982, three hundred years after the loss, recovering a further quantity of Spanish colonial silver coin.

Timeline

1682 — Sails for India — Departs the Downs with 70 chests of silver for the Surat trade.
1682 — Wrecked Near Quoin Point — Strikes an outer reef in poor visibility; ten lives lost.
1682 — Bergh Salvage Expedition — Van der Stel sends a recovery party that salvages part of the silver.
1982 — Rediscovered — South African divers locate the site three centuries later.

Notes

The first English East Indiaman lost on the South African coast
Silver was intended to buy Indian textiles at Surat
Rediscovered in 1982 — exactly 300 years after the wreck