Accession Number

1986.008.3028

Alternate object names

Box;Container

Exhibition Label

Case Caption (2023):

Chest Of Coins

The Nuestra Señora de Atocha carried nearly 100 wooden chests, each filled with over 2,000 coins and weighing about 70 pounds. Collectively, the chests weighed over three and a half tons. The coins were packed in burlap-type bags before being crated. The ship’s manifest lists 97 separate shipping entries for coins. The single largest private shipment was for over 21,000 coins. The smallest shipment totaled only four.

This chest is one of the very few that survived the 400 years that the galleon spent under water. Despite popular lore, coin chests were simple shipping crates, made of rosewood and nailed shut.

Object Caption (2023):

Chest
Wood (c.1621)
Gift of Jamestown Inc.,
1986.008.3028
 
Previous Exhibit Case Caption: Removed March 29, 2023 Chest of Silver Coins Recovered from the Nuestra Señora de Atocha Gift of Jamestown Treasure Salvors, Inc. The Atocha carried nearly 100 wooden chests, each filled with over 2,000 coins. The chests weighed collectively more than three and a half tons. Despite popular lore, coin chests were shipping crates. The Atocha coin chests were made of rosewood with no hinges or locks. They were secured with nails to keep them tamperproof. The coins were first placed into a burlap-type bag, then secured in the chests. The ship’s manifest lists 97 separate shipping entries for the coins. The single largest private shipment totaled over 21,000 coins. The smaller shipment totaled only four coins.