"This coin is a part of the cargo recovered from the wreck of the Spanish brigantine of war, El Cazador. The loss of this vessel was part of an occurrance that dramatically altered the destiny of the United States of America. On January 11, 1784, El Cazador sailed from the port of Vera Cruz, Mexico, for New Orleans, carrying 450,000 pesos of minted silver coins. The vessel and her crew disappeared into the winter seas, sinking without a trace.
Carlos III, the King of Spain, (1759-1788), had intended the immense cargo of silver coins on board El Cazador to be used to redeem nearly worthless Spanish paper currency then in circulation in Spanish-owned Louisiana. The ill-fated pesos were to have stabilized the Spanish monetary system in colonial North America, and, hopefully, to have solidified Spain's North American holdings. At the time of the loss of El Cazador, Spain was facing economic exhaustion, primarily due to 250 years of overseas conquest and decades of war. After the loss, Spain's North American holdings continued to weaken and the King commenced negotiations to sell or trade Louisiana. In 1800, a reluctant King Carlos IV (1788-1808) conveyed Louisiana to France's Napoleon for some minor European considerations. Three years later, in 1803, Emperor Napoleon of France sold Louisiana, approximately one million square miles of North America, to President Thomas Jefferson's United States. The purchase price was fifteen million dollars, about three cents per acre.
The treasure of El Cazador, had it arrived, was meant to redeem the financial affairs of one country; instead, the destiny of the United States was changed, its size instantly doubled. There is no way to know what the history of Louisiana, the United States and the world would have been had El Cazador completed its voyage.
On August 2, 1993, the wrecksite of El Cazador was accidentally discovered by Capt. Jerry Murphy, the captain of a fishing vessel named "Mistake". The Grumpy Partnership was formed to salvage the wrecksite of El Cazador, and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Judge Adrian DuPlantier, awarded all of the items salvaged from the wrecksite to the Grumpy Partnership. The modern-day discovery of El Cazador's treasure provides this unique opportunity to own a coin from "The wreck that changed the world".
"Pieces of eight (eight reales) are the largest of the Spanish silver coins. Other denominations are 4, 2, 1, & 1/2 reales. These dated shipwreck silver coins were recovered from the Brigantine (Warship) "El Cazador". The coins were newly minted in 1783 in Mexico City under Charles III and were dispatched in 1784 from Vera Cruz headed for New Orleans. History was altered by the untimely wreck of this warship on it's special mission to North America. The information below will hopefully add to your understanding of the coin you have purchased. We know you will thoroughly enjoy this ancient artifact from the past."