History of Santa Maria De La Consolacion

The shipwrek of Santa Maria De La Consolacion was discovered by ROBCAR in 1997. Shortly after the wreck was discovered, marine archeologist Robert F. Marx discovered documents and a ship's manifest in the archives os Spain which identified the wreck. The Consolacion purportedly sank near Santa Clara Island while evading pirates in 1681. She was carrying 146,000 pesos in minted silver coins along with 800 silver bars and gold ingots valued at 34,000 pesos. The Consolacion was reportedly torched by the crew after they ran aground near Santa Clara Island. This greatly angered the pirates since they were unable to recover any of her treasure, and the story goes that they beheaded the crew as punishment. The silver and gold from the new World was sent to Spain in the form of "Cob" coins from the 1500's until the mid 1700's. These "Cob" coins are crudly made coins which were produced by hand. Thus, no two "Cob" coins are alike; which is part of the reason there are so many enthusiastic collectors.