Bolivia, Philip IV (1621-65), 8-Reales, 1649, Potosi, assayer Z, 26.5 g., crowned shield dividing · P · Z · ( · 8 · ) vertically, rev. arms of Castille and Leon within rosace and stamped with type J countermark (Cal. 1030 var.; CN. 9; CT. -; Vic. 1251 var.), small striking crack and weak in places but very clear date, fine, countermark very fine

SPANISÿH GALLEONS AND SHIPBOARD LIFE 'Don Alvaro de Bazar, Spain's most famous naval commander during the 16th Century, is credited with designing the ship that was used in transporting cargo for over 250 years. Bazar designed a large vessel of several hundred tons built on long straight lines. The galleons were a special type of warship, up to one hundred feet long and rigged with square sails. The sterncastle soared up to 40 feet above the ship's waterline and was capped with the classic poop deck. The decks were traditional features of European fighting vessels of the period serving as stations from which weapons were fired. The galleons were slower than the fast brigantines and sloops liked by the pirates, however they had immense firepower. The unusually high poop deck and forecastle not only hindered speed and manoeuvrability, but when fully loaded added to the overall unseaworthiness of the ship ... Life aboard a galleon during the long journey to and from the New World varied from passenger to passenger, depending upon status and wealth. Royal officials and officers had to furnish their own foodstuffs. The list of their personal victuals included every known species of live domestic beast or fowl, smoked hams, bacon, sausages, salted cows' tongues, various pickles and dried fish, olives, olive oil, biscuits, bread, chocolates, rice, beans and many varieties of wines and stronger liquours. A common sailor or soldier would be entitled each day to a quart of wine, two pounds of biscuits, an ounce and a half of olive oil, half a quart of vinegar and a small piece of cheese. He was able to eat two ounces of peas or beans four days each week. This diet sounds healthy enough. The trouble was that each voyage lasted too long - weeks before the New World was sighted the drinking water turned green, the wine became vinegar, the oil and cheese turned rancid and the biscuits, salted meat and dried vegetables crawled with maggots. All cooking was done on the main deck over a large metal box burning wood or charcoal. For safety reasons the fire was set in sand and only lit during daylight hours. A page prepared the principal meals for officers and passengers at midday. Meals for the crew were an entirely different affair. No cooks were carried aboard the galleons and the men had to prepare their own food. There were no toilets on the ships. Seamen and many of the male passengers climbed out on seats hung over the side of the ship - women and fastidious males used 'honey buckets' in their cabins. The officers and wealthy passengers were quartered in the aft of the galleons under the poop deck, quarter deck or half deck. The gun room with the gunners mates were usually under their cabins. Most of the treasure was located in the stern of the galleon. Gold and jewels generally were placed in the captain's cabin. Larger amounts of coin and bullion were packed in the lower hold aft. Sometimes bullion, because of its weight, was thrown on top of the ballast. Unregistered (contraband) treasure might be hidden in crates, casks or packages which contained other products as well. Crew members slept in hammocks on the covered decks between the guns. Drinking water was loaded in casks which had been singed inside as a means of sterilisation. Especially in tropic zones the water barrels quickly became foul and swarmed with insects. Poor feeding lead to one epidemic after another.' J. Lee Tippin and Herbert Humphreys Jr., In Search of the Golden Madonna,1989, pp. 74-77 THE WRECKING OF THE NUESTRA SEÑORA DE LAS MARAVILLAS From the moment that Columbus completed his epic voyage of discovery in 1492 the riches of the New World lured the intrepid traveller. During the succeeding centuries, Spanish fleets braved the hazardous seas in their quest for treasure. These early trips were rewarded by the spoils they seized from the Indian tribes, then the secrets of the fabled emerald mines of Muzo and Chivor in Colombia were revealed to the conquistadors, along with pearls from the shores of Venezuela, vast deposits of silver from the Potosi mine in Bolivia and gold mined in Colombia and the surrounding regions. These riches were supplemented by the luxury goods from the Far East unloaded at Acapulco by the Manila galleons, cargoes which included jewels and gems, silks, spices and porcelain. In return Spain's distant colonies received the commodities they lacked including supplies of mercury badly needed for refining silver. By the 17th Century, weakened by war in Europe, Spain came to rely more and more on her colonial spoils. The cargoes increased as the need intensified and late departures due to overloading meant that return journeys were embarked upon in dangerous conditions. Such was the fate of the Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas which had set out from Spain in 1654 in a flotilla comprising eight galleons, four merchant ships and two small vessels. The largest of the two galleons were chosen as flagships - the Nuestra Señora de la Limpia Concepçion commanded by the Marquess de Montealegre acting as Capitana or leader of the fleet, while the Maravillas commanded by Admiral Matias de Orellana served as Almiranta bringing up the rear. The Maravillas carried the following passengers: 153 soldiers, 14 officials, 27 sailors, 17 gunners, 13 ship's boys, Lucas Quesada (master of rations), Juan Rodriguez (quartermaster), Miguel Alonso (storemaster), Lodo Luis Sierra (chaplain), Bartolome del Castillo (carpenter), Mateo de Herrera (carpenter), Juan de Esculla (caulker), Pedro de Ayllon (caulker), Joseph Conde (surgeon) and Ambrioso Altamirano (watchman). Each ship carried fifty-eight bronze cannon of various sizes. The Capitana carried the Captain General who was responsible for navigation, provisions and the general welfare of the fleet. The Almiranta carried the Admiral who was second in command but usually took charge during battle and was responsible for repelling attackers from the rear, while the third in command, the Gobernador, sailed in the Gobierno and was in charge of the soldiers, being the highest ranking military man in the cortege. The Maravillas with her accompanying vessels sailed from Spain via the Canaries, where a three-day stop was made to replenish supplies and pick up more passengers. The fleet then headed south by southwest and arrived in the Province of New Granada (present day Colombia, Venezuela and part of the isthmus) on 22 August, 1654 after a journey taking 95 days. According to the records, the Maravillas loaded up with silver, gold and emeralds before arriving at Porto Bello, Panama on 25 March, 1655 where she reputedly took on board a five foot high solid gold Madonna and a 400 pound table encrusted with diamonds, rubies and emeralds, before joining the other ships and sailing for Havana on 3 July, 1655. However, a couple of weeks later they spotted some distant ships and fearing an attack from the British, they headed back for Mexico landing at the port of San Juan de Ulna on 2 August, 1655. By 7 September they had again set sail for Havana where they anchored offshore on 10 October and repairs included a new rudder and deck knee supports for the Maravillas. The wrecking of the Maravillas is described by a Catholic priest (Don Diego Portichuelo de Rivadeneyra) keeper of the metropolitan church in Lima, who joined the ship in Porto Bello, Panama. He subsequently records how he left with the fleet from Havana on 1 January, 1656 in favourable weather with expectations of a happy voyage, but four nights later he was awakened by the boatswain's shouts. Hurrying on deck he discovered they were in 13 fathoms of water in the Bahamas Channel (near the treacherous Bahama Banks) ... 'I found some alarmed, others confused and everyone giving opinions about what should be done'. Accompanied by the Capitana, the Maravillas had been somewhat ahead of the rest of the fleet, so she fired a cannon shot to warn of the impending danger enabling the other pilots to change course for Florida and an easier passage. In the darkness these two ships attempted to turn, but the larger Almiranta was less easy to manoeuvre than her companion, and the retreating Capitana smashed into the side of the larger ship and the bow ... 'broke through our planks from the top of the waterline to the holds, making splinters out of all of them'. In less than 30 minutes after the collision, the galleon struck violently on a coral reef and then slid off, finally sinking in about 50 feet of water. No sooner had the ship settled to the bottom, when a strong wind began to blow, creating enormous waves and the ship began to break into pieces. The majority of the 650 souls on the galleon grabbed hold of the floating pieces of debris and drifted away, never to be seen again. About 150 others clung to pieces of the galleon which still stuck above the water, but many of them died from exposure during the night or were eaten by sharks as they fell into the water. By sunrise there were only 45 survivors. These were rescued the next afternoon by a small boat from another of the galleons. Shortly after the disaster, the governor of Cartagena sent 6 frigates to salvage the cargo of the Maravillas and divers from the Venezuelan pearl fisheries were able to salvage 480,000 pesos of treasure, together with 12 of the smaller bronze cannons, before a hurricane struck on 19 June and they were forced to abandon the attempt. Four of the six frigates were sunk in this early salvage operation, although about half their haul was recovered, and a further search of the Maravillas in August of the same year was particularly successful. Despite four subsequent attempts at recovery the Maravillas lay unheeded until 1677-78 when further rescue attempts met with limited success. The wreck then lay untouched for over 300 years until it was rediscovered by Robert Marx in 1972. Marx had researched and hunted for treasure all over the world, both onshore and off, before coming across nautical charts in the archives in Seville which gave the location of the Maravillas and included a cargo manifest. Those records eventually led to his discovery of the bow section of the Maravillas in May, 1972, but disputes arose with the Bahamian government and the salvage attempt was abandoned. Fourteen years later a new contract was negotiated by Captain Herbert Humphreys Jr. which promised a quarter share of everything salvaged to the Bahamian government in return for their protection of his research vessel. SILVER COINS The quality of the silver coins minted at Potosi deteriorated steadily throughout the first half of the 17th Century. Eventually the government in Spain was forced to intervene. In 1648 Philip IV sent a Royal Inspector, Don Alonso del Rincon, to Potosi to investigate the claims of malpractice at the mint. Many penalties were imposed ranging from fines to imprisonment. Two men, Don Francisco Gomez de la Rocha, silversmith, and Don Felipe Ramirez de Arellano, mint assayer, were found guilty of treason, and were sentenced to death by hanging. The reform of the coinage took some time, and in the interim an emergency measure of counterstamping every silver coin was adopted. For two years, between 1649-1651, counterstamps were applied to all 8-Real pieces, guaranteeing their quality. Other 8-Reales were either devalued to 6-Reales, or were melted. The large group of countermarked coins discovered on the Maravillas provides us with a unique opportunity to examine this brief counterstamped coinage. The counterstamps have been classified according to the list compiled by Gabirel Galbeto in 1974, and supplemented by John de Bry in 1991. Different marks were added to this list as they were identified, and no attempt has been made at a chronology. The types referred to in the catalogue are as follows Galbeto A Narrow crown in circle of large pellets Type C Wide crown in circle of small pellets E Crude crown with pellets arround, in circle of pellets H F between two pellets below crown in plain border J L below crown in border of pellets K O below crown in border of pellets P T below crown in border of pellets de Bry U PH between two pellets below stylised crown Type V Arms of Castille and Leon in circle of pellets Y Simple crown without border Z Z below crown Christie's W Elaborate crown with two pellets above Type Note: There is some variation within each type

Details

Bolivia, Philip IV (1621-65), 8-Reales, 1649, Potosi, assayer Z, 26.5 g., crowned shield dividing · P · Z · ( · 8 · ) vertically, rev. arms of Castille and Leon within rosace and stamped with type J countermark (Cal. 1030 var.; CN. 9; CT. -; Vic. 1251 var.), small striking crack and weak in places but very clear date, fine, countermark very fine

Lot Essay

It is possible that the 'Z' on this piece is the mark of the assayer Felipe Ramirez de Arellano whose symbol is usually quoted as being 'FR'. Most of his coins were melted, rather than countermarked, due to their being of too poor quality. Countermarked examples therefore are extremely rare

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