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Hollandia -- A Famous Shipwreck?Hollandia certainly qualifies as a historic, famous shipwreck -- all the more since its discovery in 1971 by Rex Cowan, a London attorney.Interestingly, the wreck is located near a group of delightful and unexpected semi-tropical islands only 29 miles from Lands End on the southwest English coast, squarely within the warm waters of the Gulf Stream. The shipwreck coin you see above was part of a large cargo of silver coin. This coin and the cargo it was part of was lost when Hollandia sunk with its crew of 276 in June of 1743. As you can see, this particular shipwreck coin is Spanish -- actually, a Spanish Colonial coin struck in Mexico City, as evidenced by its Mo mintmark. So what's a nice Spanish coin doing on the Dutch ship Hollandia, sailing on its maiden voyage to Batavia, in what we now call Indonesia? The coin is a trade coin -- a valuable coin highly prized by merchants in locations other than its country (or colony) of origin. Known as a pillar dollar, or piece of eight, this type of coin was especially useful to the Far East Trade. The Dutch East India Company, or VOC (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie), commonly shipped such coins on vessels such as Hollandia. So, having established that Hollandia is indeed a famous shipwreck and why, can we as well surmise that this treasure laden ship was -- a Dutch galleon? Not exactly. Although its cargo amounted to a hefty sum that would certainly amount to a treasure (more than 50,000 coins recovered so far), the subject of this famous shipwreck was not a galleon. Hollandia was known as a retour ship, specifically intended for the long round trips required in the exotic spice trade. And it sank close to some tropical islands near England... how can that be? Not as silly as it sounds, although the islands near which the ship went down, the Isles of Scilly, are considered semi-tropical due to their position in the Gulf Stream. How nice for the treasure hunters -- and for the increasing fame of the Hollandia! Sunk on its maiden voyage did it? Like the Titanic? Again, not exactly. The Titanic debacle is generally attributed to the carelessness of a veteran captain and crew who should have known better. The Hollandia is said to have had an inexpensively hired Far Eastern crew unfamiliar with European waters. When confronted with foul weather, the ship became separated the other two ships in its company, and apparently struck a nearly submerged outcropping known as Gunners Rock. The ship drifted one and a half miles before sinking in 22 fathoms of open water. The Dutch East India Company attempted to recover Hollandia's valuable cargo within two months of the sinking. However, eighteenth century equipment was good to only 10 fathoms in the swift and murky current. It would be more than two centuries before Rex Cowan located the wreck using a proton magnetometer!
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