Here we have an amazing condition Enormous Wrot Iron Fixing Nail  which is rare in this condition .We actually found a barrel of these different sized nails but only the ones in the centre of the barrel did not fall apart during conservation !!  This is one of the largest in the barrel and has now been conserved and will not deteriorate . In Fact it is in 'useable' condition !!! There were very few left that could be conserved  so you will own an almost unique item !! The Hollandia was a fine Dutch East Indiaman outward bound on her maiden voyage when she hit foul weather and ended up hitting the GUNNER ROCK in the Isles of Scilly It will come complete with a detailed colour certificate signed by me , the salvor, with photo's of the nail  linked and referenced to the certificate. It will also have a card showing where it sunk on Scilly and other coins from the wreck.

Provenance - This was recovered by our professional team under the guidance of Rex Cowan who received the rights from the Dutch Government and passed them through the British Receiver of Wreck starting in Sept 1971 when the we first discovered the wreck .

HOLLANDIA.

On July 3, 1743, the Hollandia set sail on her maiden voyage from Texel in the Netherlands towards Batavia (Present day Indonesia). On board were 276 sailors and soldiers as well as a number of distinguished passengers. Under the command of Captain Jan Kelder, the ship toted 129,000 guilders in silver in the form of "pillar" dollars. There were also quite a number of 8 reale cobs and ducatons on board  ! These were the property of the Captain, wealthy passengers and  crew members .These were contraband  as the owners intended to trade for  themselves outside of the Company !!

The Hollandia had begun her trip by heading westward through the English Channel but through a disastrous navigational error headed west-northwest; dangerously close to the rocks of the Scilly Isles. Efforts to correct the mistake failed; the Hollandia struck Gunner rock on the night of July 13th and sunk about a quarter of a mile away . This is why it took a long time to fid her !.

Badly damaged but still afloat, the captain ordered one or more of the Hollandia's cannon guns be fired as a distress signal but the terrified islanders were unable to assist in the dark night and the periously rough sea conditions.

By morning nothing remained of the ship but floating debris; all 276 members aboard perished and the ship's precious cargo was lost.

In 1972  our professional team of divers and technicians located the Hollandia's remains which were scattered over a wide area of the sea-bed; a limited number of artifacts were recovered from the wreckwith quite a few coins including 8 reales cobs and Pillars and Ducatons