PHILIP II - 1556-1598

Obverse: Crowned Hapsburg shield, mint mark, denomination.
Reverse: Spanish cross with lions of Leon and castles of Castile quartered with legend around.

The Portuguese merchantman Santiago was lost between Mozambique and Madagascar in 1585 while the Spanish empire was at the zenith of its global domination.

The wreck itself yielded a hoard of Spanish hand struck silver cobs of Spain and Mexico issued primarily under Phillip II. Interestingly, quantities of these coins survived four hundred years of salt-water exposure in remarkable condition. When compared with other sea salvage coinage of the period, Santiago artifacts such as this example, generally survived in a superb state of preservation.

In addition, the only known shipwreck coinage of the mythical Panama mint was discovered in the Santiago hoard, thereby helping to reaffirm what historians had long suspected--Spanish cobs had been struck in Panama during the sixteenth century.

The obverse of the of this coin shows a Hapsburg shield, the mint mark "M" with a small circle above for Mexico City, a Roman numeral IIII for the denomination of Four Reales, and Spanish legend around the rim. The reverse comprises lions and castles (representing the provinces of Leon and Castile) in quadrants. Again there is Spanish legend around the rim.

Only three years after the loss of the Santiago, Philip II launched his ill-fated invasion of England. Buffeted by English war ships and disastrous weather Spain suffered a major calamity that initiated its precipitous decline as the superpower of the sixteenth century.