Australia: 1877-S gold “Shield” sovereign of Queen Victoria, from the 1881 RMS Duoro shipwreck

Numista-24198, KM-6.

PCGS cert. #49106726.

This gold “Shield” type sovereign was struck at the Sydney mint in 1877 and was part of the cargo of the British Royal Mail steamship Douro, which sank in a nighttime collision with the Spanish steamship Yrurac Bat off Cape Finisterre near the Spanish and Portuguese coast, on the evening of April 1, 1882.

All of Duoro’s passengers and 32 of her crew were saved, but the captain and five of his officers- and the ship’s treasure of gold coins and bullion- sank with Douro in 1,500 feet of water. 53 people aboard the Spanish ship also perished when it too sank.

The wreck was found in 1993 and salvage operations were completed by 1996. There were some 28,000 gold coins brought up from the Douro wreck. Most were gold sovereigns, but there were also some rare Brazilian and Portuguese coins.

This Mint State sovereign is particularly well preserved for a coin which spent 115 years on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

Ex-Heritage Auction #3118, Lot 30083, 15 August 2024.

Sammlung : World Coins (1601-present)