withdrawn Final Reduction to £1,950 - Clive of India Shipwreck Treasure coin - NGC 6400 Reiss 1752R

[Leonmarsh]

Rare rare opportunity to buy a Clive of India Shipwreck treasure coin 

Complete with full provenance from the Spink sale in 2000 with even orginal auction catalgoue very rare to the market and one of only 5 certified as unc details from the wreck 

Doesn't come better than this in my. Opinion 

Bought from Sov rarities graded with ngc provenance 

No bum specials, no kecks down price drop pants down specials, butter my backside specials, up the arris reductions, up the wrong pipe bargains on this one 

The coin is £1,950 this is my price on this coin you won't find another graded, certified Clive of india treasure with all provenance  

Would exchange for some nice NGC graded English stuff, 

Brazil, José I (1750-77), gold Peca of 6,400 Reis, 1752, R mint mark for Rio, laureate and draped bust right, R. mint letter over date below, 2 of date doubled, legend and toothed border surrounding, JOSEPHUS. I. D. G. PORT. ET. ALG. REX, rev. crowned shield of arms within ornate frame, edge engrailed, weight 14.50g (cf. Gomes 43.02; Fr.65). With a matt tone from being in saltwater, some nicks and light surface mark ad scuffs, intriguing to think the coin has been to the bottom of the sea and back with the shipwreck provenance.

 

The obverse legend translates as "Jose the First, by the grace of God, King of Portugal and the Algarves"

In 1755 Captain Robert Clive (1725-74), the decorated military hero of the British Navy, decided after a brief stint as a politician, that he was ready for a return to India where he had made his fortune. Packing up by his estimation some £3,000 worth of gold coins in a chest marked "R.C." with his belongings, he and his wife tried to book passage on the ship Dodington where the cargo was accepted. However, a cabin was not available so Clive and his wife booked themselves on to the alternative ship Stretham. "One chest of gold marked R.C." is recorded on the Dodington manifest as weighing 653 ounces and 6 pennyweights and was the only gold recorded as being carried upon this ship and the two ships with several others set sail from England on 22nd April 1755. The Dodington was the more efficient ship of the group and pulled ahead of the others on the long voyage to India south down the Atlantic and around the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean, and lost sight of them by the end of May. Unfortunately the Captain of the Dodington following inefficient charts turned from an easterly bearing to a east-north-east too early and ended up on a collision course for rock and reefs of what was then called Chaos Island which is Bird Island today in the Indian Ocean. Stormy weather was encountered further hiding the breakers over the reefs until too late on the 17th July 1755 when the ship was wrecked within a mile of the shore at Bird Island and smashed to pieces within a twenty minute period. Only 23 of the 270 people on board survived to make the shore. The other ships following on the correct course, were oblivious to the fate of the Dodington and sailed on safely to Bombay, meanwhile the 23 survivors of the wreck made best they could to live on the island using much of the wreckage to shelter and eventually build a small vessel on which they could escape the island. They also managed to recover a "chest of treasure" and also one of "wrought plate" but both of these were not associated with Clive and nor were they gold, and his gold treasure was assumed lost for good. The survivors christened their boat "Happy Deliverance" and by the 20th April 1756 arrived in Mozambique after nine months of not seeing anybody else. They then sailed on to India successfully where news of their survival and what happened soon made headline news in London. The treasure was not eventually salvaged until the 1990s and the auction at Spink in 2000 contained over 800 Brazilian and Portuguese gold coins recovered from the wreck of the Dodington. South American gold coins minted from the rich bounty of gold deposits there were flowing as coin across to Portugal and then at the rate of as much as two million pounds a year into England from the illicit trade between Lisbon and London as evidenced by contemporary sets of coin weights for weighing gold coins that always had weights for Portuguese coins at this period, and hence why Clive possessed such gold coins for overseas trade. Clive went on to become "Clive of India" as the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency. This coin is one of 62 pieces of this date in the treasure.

 

Provenance:

Ex The Clive of India Treasure, Spink Coin Auction 143, 28th September 2000, lot 264 with original lot card and certificate issued by Spink.

 

[Leonmarsh]

For those that can be arsed reading 

MAJOR GENERAL ROBERT CLIVE, 1st BARON CLIVE (1725-1774) "CLIVE OF INDIA", WAS A BRITISH OFFICER CREDITED WITH ESTABLISHING THE SUPREMACY OF GREAT BRITIAIN, BOTH MILITARY AND POLITICAL, OVER BENGAL. THROUGH HIS EFFORTS, CLIVE CONFIRMED BRITISH HEGEMONY OVER INDIA, THUS SECURING THE POWER AND WEALTH OF THE SUBCONTINENT FOR THE BRITISH CROWN.

AFTER HIS SUCCESFUL AND NUMEROUS MILITARY, DIPLOMATIC AND ECONOMIC VENTURES ON BEHALF OF THE CROWN IN INDIA, CLIVE RETURNED TO LONDON. IN 1774 HE WAS OFFERED THE COMMAND OF ALL BRITISH FORCES IN NORTH AMERICA, BUT DECLINED THE OFFER. THAT SAME YEAR, HE COMMITTED SUICIDE WITH A PENKNIFE, THE SUICIDE ATTRIBUTED TO A HISTORY OF DEPRESSION AND OPIUM ADDICTION.

19 YEARS BEFORE, IN 1755, THE BRITISH EAST INDIA COMPANY SHIP, THE DODDINGTON, AFTER PASSING THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, STRUCK A ROCK AT ALGOA BAY, NEAR BIRD ISLAND, SOUTH AFRICA. THE INDIAMAN (EAST INDIA COMPANY MERCHANT SHIP) WAS CARRYING PORTUGUESE AND BRAZILLIAN GOLD AND SILVER COINS BELONGING TO LORD CLIVE (CLIVE WAS SAILING ON ANOTHER SHIP THAT HAD GOTTEN SEPARATED FROM THE DODDINGTON, ALONG WITH THREE OTHER SHIPS, AFTER DEPARTING THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS).

THE GOLD CONSIGNMENT CALLED "CLIVE OF INDIA'S GOLD", WAS LOOTED BY TREASURE HUNTERS FROM NEARBY PORT ELIZABETH IN MODERN TIMES.

THE SALVAGED COINS WERE AT THE CRUX OF A HIGH PROFILE AND SENSATIONALIZED LAWSUIT BETWEEN SOUTH AFRICA AND THE SALVAGERS, AND SOUTH AFRICAN AND INTERNATIONAL MARITIME LAW WERE BOTH FOUND TO BE SEVERELY INADEQUATE IN DEALING WITH SUCH MATTERS.

AFTER THE FOUR YEAR LEGAL BATTLE ROYAL, OUT THE 1,200 OF "CLIVE OF INDIA'S" COINS THAT WERE RECOVERED, A THIRD WERE RETURNED TO SOUTH AFRICA.

THIS 1752 BRAZIL 6,400 GOLD REISs, WAS PART OF THIS LEGENDARY AND CONTESTED TREASURE.

THIS COIN HAS A REMARKABLE HISTORY, IT SUFFERED MINOR ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE (SALT WATER) DURING ITS SUBMERGED TIME IN OCEAN WATER FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS. , BUT IS NON-DETRACTING AND HAS LEFT THE COIN WITH AN AMAZING SUPERB MATTE FINISH.

RIO DE JANEIRO MINT

[SlowFrog]

Absolutely stunning. This one is out of my league but it's a pleasure to see and read about it. Thanks for sharing and good luck with the sale. Honestly seems like a bargain for something with that kind of provenance and history.

[Leonmarsh]

7 minutes ago, SlowFrog said:

Absolutely stunning. This one is out of my league but it's a pleasure to see and read about it. Thanks for sharing and good luck with the sale. Honestly seems like a bargain for something with that kind of provenance and history.

Thanks for your kind words it is a very special coin 

[RDHC]

Fine detailing preserved, compensating for the lack of lustre, as does the history of course. The reverse design is interesting as an unusual example of asymmetry in coins - no strange snake/dragon creature on the left, for example. The whole of the reverse is intricate  Rococo art in miniature. Truly a marvellous period piece.

[entsor]

An opportunity to purchase a slice of actual history.

[Leonmarsh]

Bump offers, trades? 

[Silverman2U]

On 22/06/2022 at 20:57, SlowFrog said:

Absolutely stunning. This one is out of my league but it's a pleasure to see and read about it. Thanks for sharing and good luck with the sale. Honestly seems like a bargain for something with that kind of provenance and history.

Value is all in the eye of the beholder. Not an easy coin to shift here. I suspect better for auction somewhere like the coin cabinet? 

[Leonmarsh]

11 minutes ago, Silverman2U said:

Value is all in the eye of the beholder. Not an easy coin to shift here. I suspect better for auction somewhere like the coin cabinet? 

Not really trying to shift it as such, occasionally there is the right buyer on here but usually bullion is king on the forum 

[Leonmarsh]

Reduced to 2k

[Leonmarsh]

Full  and final reduction 

£1950 plus post 

 

[RDHC]

On 26/06/2022 at 14:27, Silverman2U said:

Value is all in the eye of the beholder. Not an easy coin to shift here. I suspect better for auction somewhere like the coin cabinet? 

I tend to agree. Have you thought of international auction houses, esp. those where Americans will bid? (The latter like imperial Spanish and Portuguese coins.) I have seen several where high prices are achieved.

[Leonmarsh]

Bump

[Leonmarsh]

Bump 

[Leonmarsh]

Any interest in an exchange before locking away ???

[Jnik]

Interested. How do I contact you directly 

[Leonmarsh]

@jnik this item has now sold thanks