Ducaton Southern Netherlands Antwerp Philip IV 1644 – Merestein NGC Shipwreck graded

Obverse: . PHIL. IIII. D. G. HIS[]. ET. INDIAR. REX. 16 – 44, bust of Philips IV right
Reverse: . ARCHID. AVST. DV – X. BVRG. BRAB. Z., crowned coat of arms held by two lions, underneath two flint steels and the symbol of the Order of the Golden Fleece
 
RARE
 
Recovered from the wreck of the VOC ship ‘Merestein’
 
With NGC Shipwreck certification
 
The Merestein was built in 1693 for the Dutch East India Company (VOC). On October 4, 1701, it left the Dutch island Texel for the last time. Its mission was to convoy a cargo of silver coins to Batavia, present-day Jakarta. Tragedy struck when she tried to put into Saldanha Bay (South Africa) to alleviate rampant scurvy on board the ship. On April 3, 1702, she hit reefs on the southwest point of Jutten Island and within hours was smashed to pieces. Only 99 of the 200 people aboard survived.
Due to the hazardous circumstances all attempts to bring up the treasure were abandoned until modern times. The wreck was re-found and salvaged in the early 1970s, yielding almost exclusively Dutch silver ducatons from the 1600s. The number of coins found in the 1970s was around 15,000 and is believed to be nowhere near all of the treasure that was lost.