Admiral Gardner Shipwreck Coins

 

The 1808 East India Company Copper Cash coins were amongst the first coins in the world to be minted by steam power, at the Soho Mint in Bringham, England. The Soho was created by the great Industrialist Mathew Bolton, and his partner, James Watt of steam power fame. Watt developed the concept of ''horsepower'' and the International System of Units (SI) units of watt or ''wattage''.

                         

East India Company, 1808, Ten Cash.

They were meant to be used at the East India Company (EIC) trading posts in India. Packed in wax, they were loaded on board the British East Indiaman, Admiral Gardner, to make the journey. Admiral Gardner was launched in 1797 as an East Indiaman (was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter to any of the East India Trading companies).

The Admiral Gardner was an 813-ton English East Indiaman built on the river Thames and launched in 1797. At 415 feet long and 36 feet, she had three decks, 23-gun ports, three masts and was built from oak and teak. 

                       

Illustration from the painting by F J H Gardiner for the book ''Lords of the East'' by Jean Sutton.

She made five voyages for the EIC, during the fourth of which she participated in a single-ship action with a Frech privateer. She was named after Admiral Alan Gardner. But on 24 January, 1809.she was caught in a storm in the English Channel when a gale tore her from her moorings. Three (of five) crew drowned as she sank on Goodwin Sands, never to be seen again until 1985. Lost was her cargo, 46 tons of EIC X and XX copper cash coins. The EIC put the value of its cargo at 21,579 Pounds.

                         

The wreck of Admiral Gardner on 24 Jan 1809.  

                     

                         

                                            

If this copper coin looks almost perfect, it is because it is carefully minted with the all-new steam presses. On 24 January 1809 Admiral Gardner, having set sail shortly before, was to become a footnote in history. Her Master, Captain William Eastfield, takes up the narrative. ''We sailed out of the Downes, with Carnatic and the Britannia, the wind from the eastward. On getting a little to the westward of the South Foreland, the wind drew to the south-east, and about dusk fell calm. It being flood tide, let go the anchor in fourteen fathom waters. At 7 pm, while giving the ship cable, the wind sprung up from the west-northwest. People were sent to hand sails immediately, but the wind speed increased, and they could not do what was required. They continued till 10 pm. The pilot then feeling the lead, called out the anchor was coming home, the people were then called off to give the ship cable, and when I was below seeing a little more service clapped on, a little before 11 pm, I heard the pilot exclaim'' cut away the sheet, the ships on shore''.

                        

Gone to the bottom were King's ransom in trade goods, and the shinning copper Cash Coins to be used.in trading posts in India.

The wreck was found in 1984 about 175 years after the ship sank, by a local fisherman who reported while he was snagging his nets. In 1985, the wreck was listed as being of historical importance and a license to dive was given to Richard Lam of Cornwall, the original discoverers of the wreck having formed a syndicate known as The East India Company Divers. They found a few coins. Subsequently, divers from a company called SAR Diving group salvaged an intact barrel which underwent preservation treatment at Portsmouth was estimated to contain 28,000 coins. The wreck was designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act in 1985.                         

Admiral Gardner Shipwreck Treasure mini album.

 

And if not for modern treasure salvors, the story would end here. But in 1985, the adventurous spirit of those East India Company ancestors emerged in a new generation, who recovered the lost treasure of Admiral Gardner.

                        

Coin with Certificate of Authenticity.

                       

Admiral Gardner Shipwreck Treasure Coin.

                       

EIC, 1808 Ten cash, pendant made from the Admiral Gardner Treasure Coin.

                       

1808, 10 Cash, Madras Presidency, weight 4.7 gm, NGC Certified Admiral Gardner Shipwreck coin.

   

  

Taj Mahal Sunken Treasure Coins

In 1702, AD, an Indian trader sailed from India bound for the Far East on the ''spice route,'' on a ship from the fleet of the Dutch East India Company. She carried a treasure to satiate desire. Bag after bag, containing 1,000 coins each of exquisitely minted silver rupees. The rupees had been minted on orders of Aurangzeb (1618-1707 AD), the sixth Mughal emperor of India.                         

Aurangzeb, One Rupee coin AH 1113, or AD 1701/1702.

On the way to the East, the trader probably anchored at the Portuguese trading post on the island of Ceylon (present day Sri Lanka), but disaster struck as it continued on its voyage around the southern tip of the Island with no storm warnings. The typhoon swept them on to the rocks off the Indian Ocean's Great Basses Reef off the southern coast of Ceylon. The Great Basses Reef is a treacherous stretch of turbulent water that masks a deceptively shallow depth of only around 10 to 15 feet.

                        

Location of the Great Basses Reef, on the coast of Ceylon.

                        

 

              Great Basses Reef.

Few records were recovered relating to the loss of life or the thousands of silver rupees that were part of the merchant ship's cargo.

In 1961, film makers Mark Smith and Bobby Kriegel spotted the silhouette of a small cannon while they were photographing large groupers that congregated off a picturesque fishing village along the palm -fringed coast. Returning the next day, they recovered the cannon along with several buckets of silver rupees.

Smith and Kriegel contacted their friend and fellow diver, Arthur C. Clarke, an Englishman who had made the Island his home since 1956. He was an avid scuba diver and often wrote about underwater exploration.  In 1963, Clarke and his dive associates recovered the treasure on the treacherous Great Basses Reef. Buried among the debris were concrete masses of silver rupees. Most people know Clarke as the Nobel- nominated ''Father of satellite communications'' and author of the bestseller, 2001: A Space Odyssey. He helped them claim salvage rights and identify the coins.

                           

     Arthur C, Clarke. (1917-2008)

Clarke made several dives on the wreck and retrieved some coins that he sent for display to Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC. They called it the Taj Mahal Treasure. More than 5,000 coins were retrieved in single denominations and clumps weighing 30 pounds (13.6 kg) each. The Arabic script stamped on them translated as a mint mark from 1702 AD. All were newly minted. They had all been minted in Surat in the year AH 1113, or AD 1701 and 1702 during the 45th and 46th regnal years of Aurangzeb.   

                       

       Sunken Treasure retrieved.
 

                        

After being underwater for over 250 years, the silver rupees were concreated together by coral and calcium deposits in the water.

The two salvage sleuths became diving buddies and good friends until Clarke's death in 2008 at age 90. 

The silver rupees in what is now known as the Taj Mahal Sunken Treasure collection are exclusive to ''Cannon Beach Treasure Company''. They are from Clarke's personal collection. 

                         

Taj Mahal Shipwreck Sunken Treasure Rupee coin AD 1702, Grade 3 Clump.

                        

Taj Mahal Shipwreck Sunken Treasure Rupee coin AD 1702, Grade 3 Clump.

                           

Arthur C. Clarke's Taj Mahal Sunken Treasure silver rupee coin Pendant

                       

A retrieved silver rupee, AH 1113, AD 1702.
 

                       

A Taj Mahal Treasure, with a certificate of authenticity of 1963, with Sir Arthur C. Clark's signatures.                    

                         

Translation of the Arabic written on the coins

 

Kardamakas and Coins

 

The Western Kshatrapas ruled over the central and western parts of India. They were Saka rulers of present-day states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. They ruled alongside the Satavahanas in the south, Guptas to the East, and the Kushans to the North. The Western Kshatrapas dynasty was formed by a king named Chastana or Catana around the Malwa region around 78 AD. 

                         

Western Kshatrapas, Kardamakas, Saka Era, Brahmi numerals 147, or 225 AD.

 

There were two lines of Kshatarapas, the Kshaharatas and the Kardamakas . Castana established the Kardamaka dynasty in the year 78 AD, thus making him the founder of the Saka Era. This is consistent with the fact that his descendants (who we know used the Saka era on their coins and inscriptions) would use the date of their founder as their era. Saka Era is a historical Hindu calendar era (year numbering), the epoch (its year zero) of which corresponds to Julian year 78 (Georgian minus 13 days).

                        

The Western Kshatrapas (orange) in the 2nd century AD,

A statue found in Mathura together with the statues of the Kushan king Kanishka and Vima Taktu, and bearing the name " Shastana'' is attributed to Chastana himself. His territory as described by geographer Ptolomy (100-170 AD) in his '' Geographia'' extends from Patalene (present day Sindh) in the West to Ujjain in the east and beyond Barigaza (present day Bharuch) in the south.

                       

Statue of Chastana, with costume details. The belt displays designs of horsemen and tritons/ anguiped, the coat has a highly ornate hem. Inscription ''Shastana'', Mathura Museum.

 

Rudraman 1 (130 - 150 AD) was the grandson of Chastana. He took the title of ''Mahakshatrapa'' and defended his kingdom from the Satavahanas.  King Jivadaman became the king in the year 100, Saka Era (corresponding to 173 AD). He is the first Satrap ruler who started to print the minting date on his coins, using Brahmi numerals of the Brahmi script behind the king's head.  Thereafter Rudrasimha ruled from 180-197 AD. A script of Rudrasimha 1 was recently found in Setkhedi in Shajapur district, dated 107 Saka Era. Damasena reigned from 223 to 232 AD. He was the son of Rudrasimha 1. 

                        

Brahmi numerals are a numerical system attested in the Indian subcontinent from the 3rd century BC. It is a direct graphic ancestor of the modern Hindu-Arabic numeral system. 

                           

The number 256 in Ashoka's Minor Rock Edict No.1. in Sasaram, 250 BC. 

                       

A coin dated to the beginning of the first reign of Jivadaman, in the year 100 of the Saka Era or 178 AD.

                         

These scarce potin coins, with their simple and elegant design, did not name the king and were issued from the reign of Rudrasimha 1 to Damasena, weight 1.36 gm Obverse: Elephant standing right, cluster of dots (sun) and crescent moon above, Reverse: Crescent three-arched hill (chaitya), river below, crescent moon at left, sun at right, date below off flan. (232 AD attributed to Damasena.)

                         

Coin of Western Satrap Damasena 232 AD. The minting date here 153 in Brahmi numerals of the Saka era, therefore 232 AD, clearly appears behind the head of the king.

    

They had a total of 27 independent rulers during a period of about 350 years.  In the 2nd to 4th century AD, Ujjain was their Centre. The power of the Western Satraps started to decline in the 2nd century AD, after the Saka rulers were defeated by Emperor Gautmiputra Satkarni of the Satavahana dynasty. After this the Saka kingdom revived, but was ultimately destroyed by Chandragupta II of the Gupta Empire in the 4th century AD. 

                                             

Western Kshatrapa, Kardamaka, weight 1.72 gm, Obverse: Elephant standing right, cluster of dots (sun) and crescent moon above, Reverse: Crescent three-arched hill (chaitya), river below, crescent moon at left, sun at right, date below off flan. 147 in Brahmi script, Saka Era or 225 AD.        

                                       

Western Kshatrapa, Kardamaka, weight 1.52 gm, Obverse: Elephant standing right, cluster of dots (sun) and crescent moon above, Reverse: Crescent three-arched hill (chaitya), river below, crescent moon at left, sun at right, date below off flan. 153 in Brahmi script, Saka Era or 232 AD.