Tag Archives: colombia

Sedwick & Associates presents Treasure, World, U.S. Coin and Paper Money Auction 36 Live In-Person & on the Internet, Thursday-Friday, November 7 & 8, 2024

8 Oct

This auction is one of our biggest to date, with many important rarities in coins, currency, and artifacts!
In our Gold Cobs section you will find such trophies as a Seville, Spain, 1681/0/79 S gold cob 8 escudos graded NGC MS 61 (Lot 23) and the finest known Seville, Spain, 1659 (R) gold cob 8 escudos graded NGC MS 63 (Lot 17). Also note a lovely Lima, Peru, 1748 R gold cob 8 escudos graded NGC MS 63 (Lot 37).
Shipwreck Ingots hosts one of the finest selections of shipwreck gold bars that we’ve had so far, with several unique gold ingots from the “Golden Fleece” wreck, the Atocha, the 1715 Fleet, the Luz, and the “Nanking Cargo” (Lots 73-77). Four large silver bars from the Atocha in this sale make a veritable grade set with Class Factors 0.7 up to the perfect 1.0 available for bidding (Lots 82-85).
A new feature in Shipwreck Coins is that gold cobs are now included with their respective wrecks. The Silver Banks Collection hosts over 60 silver cobs recovered from the Concepción by Captain Tracy Bowden (Lots 132-195). There’s an incredible selection of Capitana and Maravillas cobs from the Luis R. Ponte Collection including numerous countermarked pre-1652 shield-type 8 reales along with transitional and post-transitional types. The popular 1715 Fleet features a strong assortment of high-grade gold cobs including a fantastic Mexico City, Mexico, 1715 J cob 8 escudos graded NGC AU 58 (Lot 296) and the spectacularly rare Cuzco, Peru, 1698 M cob 1 escudo graded NGC AU 58 (Lot 311). A selection of U.S. shipwreck coins from the S.S. New York, S.S. Central America, and the S.S. Republic are up for sale including a rare San Francisco Assay Office gold $10 graded PCGS XF45 recovered from the S.S. Central America (Lot 424).
Mexico Silver Cobs has a small but nice group of rare “Early” and “Late” Series Charles-Joanna reales (Lots 448-451). Within Lima Silver Cobs, there are several Philip II rarities including a 4 reales of Assayer Rincón plated in Grunthal-Sellschopp’s The Coinage of Peru (Lot 457) along with many more choice pieces pedigreed to the Luis R. Ponte Collection.
Our robust Potosí Silver Cobs section features more key coins from the Luis R. Ponte Collection including a Philip II cob 8 reales of assayer L (1st period) with denomination o-VIII over P-M to right, a rarity also plated in Grunthal-Sellschopp (Lot 518). A number of very rare Royals from the Potosí Mint are being offered: Watch for the finest known 1704/3 Y cob 8 reales Royal graded NGC AU 55 (Lot 654) and the extremely rare 1709 Y cob 8 reales Heart ex-von Schuckmann (Lot 655) in this section.
Several very important collections are featured in World Coins including the Jorge Becerra Collection of Colombian Colonial Coins, the JEAS Collection of Gold Coins of Independent Colombia, Part I of the Emilio M. Ortiz Collection of Gold Coins, and Part I of the John M. O’Brien Reference Collection of Peruvian Coins. Collectors of classic Chinese coin rarities should watch for Lots 870 through 911 for numerous vintage Chinese coins from the imperial and republican eras with particular highlights being the eye-appealing Tsao-Kun military attire silver dollar of 1923 graded PCGS MS 64 (Lot 906) and the ever-popular Kweichow Year 17 (1928) “Auto” dollar graded PCGS VF 30 (Lot 909). A key coin in this session is the rare Jamaica GR countermarked of 1758 on a Lima, Peru, gold bust 8 escudos of 1751 J graded NGC c/s AU strong pedigreed to the Farouk and Rudman collections (Lot 1282). Spanish gold milled 8 escudos are well represented with several finest known and “top pop” pieces up for bidding including the gorgeous and finest known Seville, Spain, 1714 M gold 8 escudos graded NGC MS 65 (Lot 1429). Chile is another very strong area in this sale with many Spanish colonial and Republic gold and silver types available for the expert collector including the very rare Coquimbo 1828 TH “volcano” peso graded NGC AU 50 (Lot 830).
The curated Medals and Decorations section hosts several tough Bolivian medals and orders including a gold Ingaví millitary decoration of 1841 (Lot 1458). We also present another selection of Admiral Vernon medals from the prestigious John Adams Collection (Lots 1465-1486). Within U.S. Coins, Medals, and Tokens there are several important early American rarities, notably an amazing 1787 Fugio cent graded NGC MS 66 Brown—a lofty “top pop” grade for this historical type (Lot 1500). Other highlights include a 1883-S gold $20 double eagle graded PCGS AU53 from the Saddle Ridge Hoard (Lot 1490) as well as an 1894 gold proof $2½ quarter eagle graded NGC PF 58 (Lot 1491). The U.S. Paper Money section has several tough Obsoletes including two Civil War-era State of Florida notes (Lots 1506 and 1507). World Paper Money hosts many beautiful, high-grade, Latin American specimens and proofs including the finest known Costa Rica Banco Mercantil specimen 20 colones graded PMG Superb Gem UNC 67 EPQ (Lot 1523) and a very rare PMG-graded set of five Dominican Republic progressive proofs from 1978-1982 (Lot 1536).
The fifth session of our sale starts with Ancient and Medieval coins with many popular Ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine designs, including a beautifully toned Imperial Roman silver “elephant” denarius of Julius Caesar (Lot 1561) and a lustrous NGC-graded Mint State Byzantine Empire gold solidus of Justinian II (Lot 1565). Following that, the popular Coin Jewelry section hosts many gold and silver shipwreck, Spanish colonial, and ancient coins mounted into settings and ready for wearing.
This auction has a very strong Shipwreck Artifacts section featuring many pieces from the Concepción salvage work done by Captain Tracy Bowden as well as pieces he recovered from Bannister’s pirate ship Golden Fleece sunk off the Dominican Republic in 1686—an historic first offering of a new pirate shipwreck!—in addition to items from the Guadalupe and Tolosa of 1724. The Non-Wreck Artifacts section holds an array of fossils (Lots 1640-1650) as well as historical items like a sword presented in 1856 to Heinrich Halfeld for engineering work in Minas Gerais, Brazil (Lot 1654). We close out the sale with the online-only Express session featuring over 400 lots from all categories.
We wish you all good luck and hope you find the next great treasures for your collection in this sale!

For more details about the auction email us or call us.

Event Summary
Start Date: Wednesday, November 6, 2024 (Lot viewing and educations talks)

Educational Talks:
2:00 – 2:45 PM: Jorge Becerra Leon (Bogotá,) – “Colonial Colombian Coins”
3:00 – 3:45 PM: Jorge Ugaz (Lima,) – “The Cob Coinage of El Peru” (Spanish)
4:00 – 4:45 PM: Ignacio Gutierrez (Madrid) – “Los Doblones de a Ocho”
5:00 – 5:45 PM: Emilio M. Ortiz (Puerto Rico,) – “Gold Coinage of The Caribbean”
6:00 – 6:20 PM: Charlie Winn – (Representing The 1715 Fleet Society)
6:45 – 8:00 PM: Invitation-only cocktail reception at SpringHill Suites.

Thursday, November 7, 2024
9:00 AM: Floor auction with live internet bidding begins Gold Cobs | Shipwreck Ingots | Shipwreck Coins | Silver Cobs by mint

Friday, November 8, 2024
9:00 AM: Floor auction with live internet bidding continues:
World Coins (by country) | Medals and Decorations | U.S. Coins | Paper Money
Ancient Coins | Coin Jewelry | Artifacts

9:00 PM: Express Session (selected items from all categories)

Saturday, November 9, 2024
9:00 – 11:30 AM: Lot pick-up

For Hotel reservations please follow this LINK

SpringHill Suites Winter Park 1127 North Orlando Avenue | Winter Park, Florida, USA, 32789

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400-year-old twist of fate uniting Cartagena, Colombia, and Florida Keys history to be celebrated

15 Sep

When the primary cultural deposit – the motherlode – of the 1622 fleet galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha was discovered by divers working for treasure hunter Mel Fisher near Key West, Florida in 1985, among its riches was a vast cargo of silver coins the likes of which had never been seen before. The discovery also delivered a bombshell surprise of evidence for historians: confirmation that hand-struck silver coins were produced in the Nuevo Reino de Granada – today’s Colombia – as early as 1621, a fact that some had suspected, but none had proof to substantiate.

This year, from December 1 to December 5, 2021, 400 years after the conflict-ridden establishment of minting houses in both Cartagena and Santa Fe de Bogota, coin experts and history enthusiasts from all over the world – including six from Florida – will gather in Colombia’s romantic sea-port city for “Cartagena MMXXI – the 3rd International Convention of Historians and Numismatists” where they will examine and celebrate this fascinating point in time along with other key moments in numismatic history.

Noted Colombian historian, numismatist and San José shipwreck expert Jorge Becerra de Leon, left, and historic research expert/numismatist Jorge Proctor, in period costume, address an audience at a previous conference. Both will be featured speakers at Cartagena MMXXI – the 3rd International Convention of Historians and Numismatists, taking place December 1-5, 2021, in Cartagena, Colombia. (Photo by Carol Tedesco)

Open to the public, the convention features presentations by some of the world’s leading experts, including Florida’s Jorge Proctor of Pompano Beach, an archival research expert, numismatist and head of the convention’s academic committee; noted marine archaeologist, anthropologist, author and retired professor Dr. R. Duncan Mathewson III of Little Torch Key, who led the Atocha’s archaeological recovery process; Orlando-based professional numismatist and convention V.P. of North American relations, Augi Garcia; Orlando-based professional numismatist and author Daniel Frank Sedwick, Tampa-based professional numismatist Colin M. Blyth, and Key West and Gainesville-based shipwreck coin curation expert, author and International Conventions founding member Carol Tedesco.

Though researchers reported that coins were minted in Colombia as early as 1622, until the discovery of the Atocha, none dated earlier than 1625 were known to exist. Archival records documented that in 1620 a military engineer by the name of Don Alonso Turrillo de Yebra had been authorized by King Philip III of Spain to establish a mint in what was then known as the Nuevo Reino de Granada – the New Kingdom of Granada. Documents also revealed that the undertaking, which included a mint in Santa Fe de Bogota and an ancillary one in Cartagena, was fraught with beauracratic complications and delays. Nonetheless, Turrillo persisted, and in a letter to the King he confirms that at some point prior to the sailing of the 1622 fleet he had indeed struck coins, of “much more perfection than that which is styled in some of the other mints,” and he lamented that some of these “were on one of the galleons which were flooded.” Yet the question remained, were coins also struck in Nuevo Reino de Granada in 1621 as some documents seemed to imply? The answer was eventually revealed among recoveries from the Atocha and another ship of the fleet.

Reverse and obverse sides of a partially dated 1621 silver coin, struck at the Cartagena, Colombia mint that went down on the galleon Atocha near Key West, Florida in 1622, and is one of a small group of coins that altered the known numismatic history of Colombia. A December 1-5, 2021 event in Cartagena will celebrate the 400 year anniversary of the opening of that mint. Events recognizing the 400 year anniversary of the Atocha’s sinking will take place in Key West in 2022. (Photo provided by Bill Pearson)

A Cartagena MMXXI conference presentation by Turrillo authority Proctor, titled “Alonso Turrillo – hero or villain?” will address key questions as well as examine some of the shenanigans undertaken over the course of years by the wiley and resourceful “entrepreneur.” Other notable experts from Colombia, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Panama, Puerto Rico, Spain, the U.S., and Venezuela will offer a combination of live and virtual presentations as well as book presentations on a variety of historic numismatic themes.

Of particular interest to sunken shipwreck historians and enthusiasts will be updates and discussions on Colombia’s famous San José shipwreck, which was sunk by British Naval forces in 1708, taking hundreds of people and a cargo of New World produced wealth estimated in the billions to a resting place in nearly 2000 feet/600 meters of sea water from Cartagena. Under discussion will be prospects for recovery of the vessel, and establishment of a museum to house and display its artifacts.

For registration and other conference information, including a gala, ceremonies, social events, and a commercial numismatic component for collectors and sellers, visit cartagena2021.com. The website is in Spanish but offers an English translation feature and English language registration guide. English/Spanish translation for all presentations will be provided. Covid-19 safety protocols will be in place for the duration of the conference; scheduling may be subject to change. Attendees are encouraged to check the website regularly for updates. For in-person guests and participants, facemasks and proof of vaccination will be required, and social distancing will be observed.

A painting by Samuel Scott (1702-1772) depicts the destruction in 1708 of the treasure galleon San José off the coast of Cartagena, Colombia. Prospects for recovery of the vessel and establishment of a museum to house and display its artifacts is to be one of the topics under discussion at Cartagena MMXXI – the 3rd International Convention of Historians and Numismatists. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

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Press contact: Augi Garcia / prensa@cartagena2020.com

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