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