Gold recovered from centuries-old shipwreck discovered off the south coast of England by South West Maritime Archaeology – Prof. Dave Parham/SWNS
A shipwreck off the British coast, including a treasure of hundreds of gold coins, has finally been identified after 30 years.
The 400-year-old ship discovered off the coast of Devon, England, has now been identified as the Dutch trading ship ‘Dom van Keulen’, which sailed from Morocco for the Netherlands in the autumn of 1633.
Found by the South West Maritime Archaeology Group, its cargo included 9,000 Barbary ducats (widely used European coins made of gold or silver), and gold Moroccan coins, along with 320 goat skins, 150 bags of gum arabic, and 64 bags of saltpeter.
The announcement came in a new book, From Morocco to the Coast of England: The Story of the Dom van Keulen and its Remarkable Cargo.
“It is thought that most of the cargo was salvaged at the time, but more than 400 coins remained on the seabed until they were discovered by the Archaeology Group in 1995,” said Professor Dave Parham, professor of maritime archaeology at Bournemouth University and the book’s co-editor who collaborated with the British Museum on the research.
Independent Historian, Ian Friel, who helped identify the ship, has uncovered documents in the National Archive relating to its voyage from Morocco to the Netherlands during which the crew “met with much tempestuous weather”.
The ship sprang a leak and sank close to the coastal town of Salcombe, off the south coast of England, but the entire crew survived.
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The 400 coins, along with other cargo from the wreck, are currently on display at the British Museum—all having originated along the Barbary Coast, today’s Morocco.
African gold coins recovered from the Dutch wreck – SWNS / British Museum
Selection of treasure from the Moroccan Sa’dian dynasty (16th-17th century AD) found in Salcombe Bay, Devon – SWNS / British Museum
“The discovery of African gold from under the sea off the coast of Devon was an amazing discovery,” said Jeremy D. Hill, head of research at the British Museum. “It raised so many questions about how it came to be there.”
Answering those questions required a team of experts collaborating for years.
The story can now be told—and it provides tangible evidence of the flourishing 17th-century maritime trade linking Morocco, the Low Countries, and Britain.
It also illuminates the history of trade in African gold and the wealth and architecture of the Sa‘dian Sharifs, an Arab dynasty that ruled Morocco from 1549 to 1659.
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“It reminds us how much there is still to be found under our seas,” added Hill.
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