Rare Pillar Dollar "Piece of Eight" Heirloom Pendant from the Shipwreck El Cazador

Please Note: This is an authentic El Cazador Shipwreck Treasure Coin, and you will receive the exact pendant in the photographs and description.

From the personal collection of our old friend, El Cazador's Salvage Master, Craig Boyd - A Cannon Beach Treasure Exclusive. 

Take a trip back in time... for over 300 years the Spanish ruled most of the Americas. Wars raged across Western Europe, in part due to the struggle to own and keep the New World.  Enter El Cazador, a Spanish Brig of War loaded with a silver treasure destined to relieve the failing economy of Spanish held New Orleans. The silver "Pieces of 8" she carried are often called America's first silver dollars.

Your El Cazador Shipwreck Treasure Coin

• Date: 1738
• Denomination: 1/2 Reale Rare Pillar Dollar style
• Mint: Mexico City, Nueva Espana (New Spain, present day Mexico)
• Ruler: Philip V of Spain
• Coin Metal: Silver
• Bezel Metal: 14K Gold
• Obverse (Front): The Pillars of Hercules, Old and New Worlds, Spanish Crown, "PLUS ULTRA" "More Beyond" on the ribbon around the pillars
• Reverse: (Back): The shield of Leon and Castile, Spain
• Articulating Nautical Shackle Bail Interior Diameter: Will accommodate chain or leather necklace up to 6.2 mm
• Pendant Size including bezel:  3/4" Across, 1 1/4" Tall - pendant is the width of a  U.S. nickel

Note from Robert:  This is a stunning, rare Pillar Dollar 1/2 reale. The details are exquisite, including the date, pillars, and "PLVS VLTRA" (MORE BEYOND the Pillars of Hercules) on Pillars red circles.

Only a small portion of coins recovered from El Cazador were the Pillar Dollar type. Less than 10% of the coins minted at this time were 1/2 reales. The majority were the large 8 reales. It was removed from the inside of a "clump" of coins, the remains of a treasure chest.

I have carefully conserved our El Cazador coins to highlight the visible details, and they are not polished like most El Cazador coins are.

Spanish Pillar Dollars are considered by numismatists (including us here at Cannon Beach Treasure Co) one of the most stunning coins ever minted. A transitional currency between the rough "Cob" style Pieces of Eight, and the later Portrait Dollars" this regal design bears the Pillars of Hercules, with the Old and New World between them. The Spanish Crown rests above, under the Latin legend VTRA QUE VNUM "Two Become One."

El Cazador set sail on January 11, 1784, and was never heard from again. Historians speculate that had El Cazador reached her destination, Spain may never have transferred ownership of New Orleans and the surrounding territory back to France in 1801 - a transfer that paved the way for the United States acquisition of the Louisiana territory in 1803. 200 years after El Cazador’s sinking, a butterfish trawler, Mistake, snagged her nets 50 miles south of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. The crew held their breath as they raised what were sure to be damaged nets. Mysterious black clumps were all they found. While some crew members kicked them into the water, the cry of "COINS! COINS!" rang out. El Cazador, and her treasure, was found at last. Our old treasure salvor friend, Craig Boyd conducted the "delicate and dangerous" (as he describes it) process of bringing El Cazador's cargo to the surface in 2002.

Learn all about the Shipwreck That Changed History, El Cazador, here>

To see our complete collection of Spanish "Piece of Eight" treasure coins, click here>

Your El Cazador Shipwreck Piece of Eight Necklace Comes Complete with:

1. Our 100% Authentic Lifetime Guarantee
2. A Detailed, Multi-Page Certificate of Authenticity Researched and Written by Robert Lewis Knecht and signed by Craig Boyd. Our Exclusive Certificate includes the history of why France lost New Orleans to Spain, and how France got it back, only for Napoleon to sell it to the United States.
3. The original coin insert personally signed by Craig Boyd.
4. "Pieces of Eight" Historic Brief
5. The Coins of the Lost Galleons Book
6. Treasure Hunters Gazette Booklet
7. Mini Museum Display for when you are not wearing your treasure
8. A Treasure Jewelry Care Card