Who else thinks these are pretty cool? http://www.ebay.com/itm/1783-El-Caz...ltDomain_0&hash=item4ab61a7f77#ht_5521wt_1118
I think it's pretty cool. I love the whole shipwreck/treasure aspect. The ones that really blow me away are the older gold pieces.
It's neat that it was on a verified shipwreck. It's a heck of a lot better than those "pirate cobs" you always see on eBay. Those don't look like anything. This is an actual coin.
Yeah, I think they are cool. I have a few from the El Cazador wreck. What's really cool is the story of the wreck and the effect of the loss on the Spanish colonial economy in the Americas, which eventually lead to the Louisiana Purchase that doubled the size of the U.S. But even cooler is the story of the discovery of the wreck off New Orleans in the 1990s and how the coins got into the market years later. BTW, HiddenDragon, those "pirate cobs" WERE real coins in their time and are very collectable today. Sedwick Auctions (www.sedwickcoins.com) holds auctions a couple of times a year selling these cobs. If I remember correctly the auction held earlier this month yielded over $2 millon in sales.
Ahearn, that may be true, but the ones I'm talking about are probably not the ones that are very collectible. Just like the "uncleaned Roman coins" that you see for sale. There are good examples and poor examples.
I weaseled my way on to the Odyssey a few years ago when I was working with a certain TV coin dealer. They were hunting off of the Florida Keys at the time. They didn't find anything while I was on board, but they gave me a silver doubloon that looks like a seated liberty half on the obverse and an image of the Odyssey on the reverse. A commemorative of their SS Republic find.
They wouldn't allow any photos on board the ship, but I'll try to dig up some images of the doubloon that they gave me.
