A new study published in the journal Antiquity includes high-resolution images and 3-D reconstructions that allowed researchers to examine gold coins scattered around a wreck resting about 600 meters beneath the Caribbean off Colombia. The team said the macuquinas - hand-struck cobs with rough edges visible in the new photographs - offered what they called tangible clues linking the site to the Spanish galleon San José, lost in 1708.
Scientists from the Colombian Navy and related state agencies compared the digital evidence with colonial mint and cargo ledgers. Remotely operated vehicles documented three clusters of unprocessed gold coins near the stern, mixed with artillery, cargo fragments and everyday objects. The footage was clear enough to show mint marks without removing artifacts from the seabed.
Investigators identified a variant of the Jerusalem Cross on one face of many coins. Digital magnification also revealed a shield bearing the emblems of Castile and León. The reverse showed the Pillars of Hercules motif above stylized waves, a feature unique to the Lima mint. Lettering and numerals included an L for Lima, an 8 for denomination, an H for assayer Francisco de Hurtado, the inscription P V A for Plus Ultra and the date 707 for 1707.
Using scale bars in the footage, analysts calculated an average diameter of 32.5 millimeters and an estimated weight of 27 grams, matching early-eighteenth-century Lima standards and archival manifests for the San José’s treasure.
Additional finds strengthened the identification. Chinese porcelain from the Kangxi dynasty and bronze cannons cast in 1665 lay in the same debris field, aligning with accounts that the galleon carried about 200 tons of gold, silver and uncut gemstones bound for Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession.
The San José led a fleet of eighteen ships that left Cartagena on 8 June 1708. Period chronicles recount that five British warships intercepted the convoy, sparking a cannon duel. When the galleon’s powder magazine exploded, the vessel sank with nearly six hundred sailors; most escorts reached Cartagena’s harbor.
La Flota de Tierra Firme, commanded by the galleon San José, held the exclusive monopoly on transporting royal treasures between South America and the Iberian Peninsula, said Daniela Vargas Ariza, principal researcher at the Naval Cadet School Admiral Padilla and the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History, according to GEO France.
Ownership of the wreck remains disputed. Spain claims the San José and its cargo as state property under international maritime law, while Colombia argues that the site lies in its territorial waters and forms part of its heritage. Bogotá plans to display selected artifacts in a future museum and has suggested auctioning some items to fund full recovery, a proposal critics say conflicts with cultural-resource stewardship.
In March 2024 the Colombian government funded a new underwater robot that expanded photogrammetric surveys begun after the wreck’s 2015 discovery near Cartagena. Successive missions produced a detailed 3-D map, allowing non-invasive study while decisions on salvage proceed.
Written with the help of a news-analysis system.