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.

Santiago

Lost: 1585
Location: Bassas da India, Mozambique Channel
Coordinates: -21.5000, 39.7000
Era: Spanish Colonial – Early Contact Era
Coinage: cob
Discovered by: Robert Sténuit expedition (research)
Recovery: 1977
Cargo: Spanish silver reales, Chinese porcelain, Spices, Precious stones

Portuguese carrack lost on the Bassas da India atoll in the Mozambique Channel while carrying Spanish silver from Goa back to Lisbon.

History

The Santiago sailed the Carreira da Índia — the annual Portuguese round-trip between Lisbon and Goa that was the longest and most dangerous regular voyage on Earth. On the return leg of 1585, under command of Fernão de Mendonça, she struck the barely-submerged coral ring of Bassas da India in the Mozambique Channel. She broke up almost immediately. Roughly four hundred people were aboard. The captain and a small group of officers took the ship's boat and eventually reached Mozambique Island; most of the passengers and crew died on the reef or trying to reach shore on improvised rafts. Contemporary accounts became famous through the Portuguese "shipwreck literature" genre that circulated in Lisbon for a century.

Recovery

Belgian marine archaeologist Robert Sténuit researched the wreck extensively and led surveys of the Bassas da India atoll in the 1970s. Later expeditions documented cannon, anchors, and small amounts of numismatic material. The reef itself remains one of the most hazardous shipwreck sites in the western Indian Ocean, and any recovered coinage tends to reach the market with limited documentation.

Timeline

1585 — Departs Goa — Homeward leg of the Carreira da Índia begins.
1585 — Strikes Bassas da India — Grounds on the atoll in the Mozambique Channel and breaks up.
1586 — Survivors Reach Africa — A ship's-boat party makes it to Mozambique Island; most aboard perish.
1970 — Sténuit Surveys — Modern archaeological survey of the atoll wreck field.
1970s–Present — Documentation Continues — Site studied intermittently; coinage occasionally reaches collectors.

Notes

Featured in the "História Trágico-Marítima" — Portugal's classic shipwreck literature
Bassas da India is a submerged atoll that barely breaks the surface at low tide
Carried Spanish New World silver re-exported east through Goa