El Cazador Shipwreck Treasure coin Pirate Piece of Eight Pendant Authentic skull

Description

"El Cazador", The Shipwreck that Changed the World
Shipwreck condition. The authentic coin pictured is the one you will receive. It comes in a sterling silver handcrafted pendant bezel with skull and crossbones. Your purchase will include the Certificate of Authenticity, a 14 page full color informational booklet on the " El Cazador " Shipwreck, a velvet treasure pouch, polishing cloth and gift box.
This is a genuine coin salvaged from the Spanish brigantine of war, named the "El Cazador" which sank without a trace in January of 1784 while on route from Vera Cruz Mexico to the port of New Orleans. Called the
"Shipwreck that Changed the World"
, the treasure of the "El Cazador," consisted of over 400,000 Spanish 8 reales and an equal amount of smaller denomination Spanish colonial coins from the Mexico City mint and was intended to stabilize the Spanish monetary system in colonial North America. After her disappearance, the currency situation became desperate and despite dispatching more silver to the territory, it was never enough to redeem and stabilize the Spanish currency of Louisiana.
By 1800, the Spanish could no longer control colonial Louisiana and were forced to eventually convey the Louisiana territory to France's Napoleon. The rest is history, as three years later in 1803, Napoleon sold the Louisiana territory as the
"Louisiana Purchase" to the United States, instantly doubling the size of the United States.
The other really interesting fact is that this shipwreck site was accidentally discovered on August 2, 1993 by Captain Jerry Murphy. He was fishing in the Gulf of Mexico 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana and pulled up in his net a large clump of Spanish Silver pieces of eight! Ironically,
his boat was named the "Mistake".