Accession Number

1986.008.0040

Alternate object names

Coin;Gold Coin

Description

This four-escudo gold coin was struck at the Seville mint under assayer Melchor Damián, who used a box-like, gothic “D” as his mark. Damián worked from 1566-1586 and 1588-1590. On the obverse, a shield within a beaded circle is a crowned Habsburg coat of arms. On the right-hand side of the shield is “IIII,” the denomination of 4 escudos in Roman numerals. The text of the legend reads PHILIPPVS II DEI GRATIA (Philip II, by the grace of God). On the reverse, the legend continues with +HISPANIARVM REX (King of Spain). The reverse is centered with a cross potent within a quatrefoil and other ornamentation, all surrounded by a beaded circle. Philip II (1556-1598) was the first Spanish king to authorize the striking of coins made from gold produced in the New World, but only by the mint at Seville, where the returning galleons unloaded their treasure at docks a short distance away. So, although this coin was minted in Spain, it likely contains American gold.

Exhibition Label

Case Caption (2023):

Personal Adornments

In this time period, it was fashionable for European men to wear almost as much jewelry as women. However, Spaniards had so much personal wealth that showing it off came to be considered arrogant and a lack of humility before God. The king enacted sumptuary laws, limiting men’s jewelry to a single chain. These could be both large and ornate, and it was also possible to wear an extra chain to hold a religious medal or a badge of rank.

The gold whistle shown here would not have been loud enough to be heard at sea but might have been worn by the boatswain aboard the Nuestra Señora de Atocha, Mateo Martin, denoting the importance of the duties he oversaw at sea.

These coins would have been the possessions of some of the wealthier travelers, rather than cargo. No mint was allowed to make gold coins until an extensive gold deposit was found in Colombia, at Santa Fe de Bogota. Three sample coins from that mint, dated 1622, were found on the wreck of Nuestra Señora de Atocha, but all other gold coins on the wreck were minted in Spain. It was not until Lima was chartered in 1675 and Mexico in 1679 that minting gold coins went into full production.
Object Caption (2023):

Coins (Escudos)
Gold (c.1620)
Gift of Jamestown Inc., Leon W. Noel, Mel & Dolores Fisher, Marjorie Priestly, Richard Bulman
1986.008.0040, 1985.006.0006, 1989.005.0001, 2018.005.0001