Very Rare 1742 Lima 8 Reales PCGS VF-30
Item #CC-0662 | Very Rare 1742 Lima 8 Reales PCGS VF-30
Mint: Lima, Peru
Assayer: “V”
Ruler/Period: King Philip V
Grade: VF-30
For details and population on this coin from PCGS, click on the serial number here: 49167685
Description: This is a very fine example of a 1742 Lima 8 reales that happens to be the second finest example graded by PCGS. What makes this particular example special is that the obverse displays a nicely centered and well defined date, pillars and waves, a strong mintmark, assayer’s initial , and the “8” denomination. The reverse displays a well centered and complete cross with the castles and lions.
Seeing as this coin is only one of two graded by PCGS, makes it obviously rare and makes you wonder why there haven’t been others graded. Well, there is a fascinating story behind this!
Commodore George Anson’s Secret Mission
Between 1739 and 1748, Great Britain and Spain were embroiled in a conflict known as the War of Jenkin’s Ear. This war was named after a Royal Navy officer, Captain Robert Jenkins who had been badly beaten and had his ear cut off by the Spanish in the West Indies. This event, along with mounting tensions over trade disputes and Spain’s uncontrolled expansion into the New World ultimately led to Britain declaring war in 1739.
As war plans were being drafted, the British Admiralty devised a plan to attack Spain where it would hurt most, their wallet. The British knew if they could destroy or capture Spain’s resources and territories, this would reduce the flow of silver and gold used to finance their war effort.
Commodore George Anson
In 1740, Commodore George Anson was given the assignment to raid Spanish possessions in the Pacific, disrupt trade, and if possible, join up with other British forces to capture Spanish possessions in South America.
Having set sail from England on September 18th, Anson headed South with his squadron of eight warships, including HMS’ Gloucester, Wager, Tryal, Pearl, Severn along with Anson’s flagship Centurion, a thousand-ton 4th rate Man-O-War, plus two merchant vessels stocked with provisions and marines, the Anna and the Industry.
The armament and crew of Anson’s squadron was comprised of the following warships:
· The Centurion was 1,005 tons and had 60 guns and a crew of 400 men. This ship was Anson’s flagship.
· The Gloucester was 853 tons and had 50 guns and a crew of 300 men.
· The Severn was 853 tons and had 50 guns and a crew of 300 men.
· The Pearl was 600 tons and had 40 guns and a crew of 250 men.
· The Wager was 599 tons and had 24 guns and a crew of 120 men.
· The Tryal was 200 tons and had 8 guns and a crew of 70 men.
Although the squadron managed to evade a flotilla of Spanish warships that had been sent to intercept them, the crews of the British ships were decimated by dysentery, malaria, typhus and scurvy. In addition, the squadron was scattered and many of the ships lost contact with each other as they attempted to sail around South America’s Cape Horn, which is one of the most treacherous stretches of ocean in the world.
The Pearl and the Severn failed to pass around the Horn and were forced to return home and HMS Wager was wrecked off the coast of Chile, where the crew subsequently mutinied. This left Anson with only 5 ships.
By the time Anson reached the Juan Fernández Islands in June 1741, only three of his six ships remained (HMS Centurion, the fourth-rate HMS Gloucester, and the sloop HMS Tryal), while the strength of his crews had fallen from 961 to 335. Anson pressed on, capturing several Spanish merchant ships, including the Nuestra Señora del Monte Carmelo and the Nuestra Señora del Arranzazú.
In the absence of any effective Spanish forces on the coast, he was able to harass the enemy and sack the small port city of Paita, Peru in November 1741.
Disease continued to take a heavy toll on Anson’s crew, and there were barely enough officers and men available to operate the ships. This meant the Spanish prize ships that were captured had to be destroyed, thus forfeiting any prize money that might have been gained from their sale, and the crews had to transfer back to the Centurion and the Gloucester. Anson continued to raid Spanish settlements, and intercept Spanish merchants, before sailing to Macau.
Despite his successful raids and capturing several Spanish merchant vessels, Anson had failed to achieve as much as he had hoped when he had set out initially. He had lost most of his ships, either wrecked, out of contact, or returned home, and most of his men had died. This entire mission was beginning to look like a disaster for Anson, who desperately needed a victory worthy of the immense loss of men and ships.
As soon as Anson left Macau, he informed his crew that he intended to make one last attempt to capture a Spanish Galleon. Although finding a galleon in the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean was like finding a needle in a haystack, Anson hoped to achieve one last major success before returning home.
The Capture of the Nuestra Señora de Covadonga
The Nuestra Señora de Covadonga was one of the Manila galleons that sailed this Pacific route from 1731. The name Covadonga in Spanish means “Cave of Our Lady” and likely commemorates the Battle of Covadonga that took place in the year 722, which marked the beginning of the Spanish Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula. Weighing in at 1,000 tons with 50 cannons, the Covadonga was a formidable warship capable of transporting cargo but also defending itself against all but the most powerful naval vessels. For 12 years, it passed back and forth between Acapulco and Manila with minimal incidents, but its 1743 voyage was destined to be a disaster.
The Covadonga sailed from Acapulco on April 15th, 1743, weighed down by Peruvian silver worth roughly $80 million today, and 530 people, half of them crew and the remainder passengers. To make room for this volume of people, their belongings, cargo and silver, the newly-appointed Commander, Geronimo Montero, had ordered the removal of all but 13 of the 50 cannons. This reduced the ship from being a formidable and feared warship to little more than an oversized merchant vessel.
While the Covadonga made its way across the Pacific, on June 30th, off the coast of Cape Espiritu Santo in the Philippines, its crew spied a sail in the distance. The approaching ship was none other than the HMS Centurion!
Despite the crew of the Centurion having been ravaged by disease after more than three years of campaigning in the Pacific, the Spanish Galleon was no match for the superior gunnery and handling of the British warship, and after a battle lasting 90 minutes, during which the Spanish ship was shot through with cannonballs and its decks raked with grapeshot, the galleon struck its colors and surrendered to the Centurion. On the Centurion only three men died and 17 had been wounded. On the Covadonga, the grim figures were 67 dead and 84 wounded.
When Anson’s men boarded the captured ship, they were amazed to find a huge hoard of silver, including 1,313,843 pieces of eight bearing the “Lima” mint mark, 35,682 ounces of silver bullion, silver plate and some gold.
The charts captured with the ship added many islands (and phantom islands) to the British knowledge of the Pacific, including the so-called Anson Archipelago.
After several stops along the way to pick up additional supplies and crewmembers, Anson arrived back in England on June 15, 1744.
Of the original crewmembers of Anson’s squadron, including the survivors of the ships that got separated, only 500 survived out of 1,854 officers, sailors and marines. Of Anson’s own remaining forces from the Centurion, Gloucester, Tyral and the Anna, only 188 original crew members out of around 1,000 were alive by the time they returned home.
Seeing as the Covadonga was captured in June of 1743, the bulk of the 8 Reales minted in Lima were most likely minted in 1742, given the time it would have taken to mint the large quantity of coins and then transport them from the port of Callao, Peru to the port at Acapulco.
More Spanish Silver Captured By The Royal Family Privateers
During the mid 18th century, Spain was at war with Britain and on July 10, 1745, the British seized a massive amount of Spanish Colonial silver in the North Atlantic by two British privateers, the “Prince Frederick” captained by James Talbot and the “Duke” captained by John Morecock. These ships were part of a group known as the “Royal Family Privateers” as each vessel was named after a member of the Royal Family at the time.
Commanded by Captain James Talbot, the little fleet initially consisted of three armed ships, the 500-ton 30-gun flagship “Prince Frederick”, the 300-ton 20-gun “Duke” and the much smaller “Prince George” which capsized and sank five days out with the loss of all but twenty of her crew.
The flotilla left Cowes, England on June 2, 1745 and on July 10th, whilst cruising the North Atlantic between the Azores and the Newfoundland Banks, sighted three unidentified vessels which immediately turned away. Chased and challenged by Talbot, the mystery ships ran up French colors, formed into a ragged line for protection and prepared to defend themselves. The French ships were the Louis Erasmus, the Marquis d’ Antin, and the Notre Dame de la Déliverance. The Notre Dame fled as night fell and escaped, while the other two were engaged with the Duke and Prince Frederick.
Captain Talbot’s own account of the affair was subsequently published in the Gentleman’s Magazine in September of 1745 (pages 418-419 shown below) where he described it as a “sanguinary fight” in which “we entertained each other for three hours at warm work”. After suffering a serious pounding at the hand of the superb gunnery of the British sailors, both French ships surrendered.
Captain Talbot states that after the battle “when my boat returned from on board the last ship I took, I was agreeably surprised to find the first officer prisoner that came on board, tell me they came from Callao in Peru, until then, I took them to be Martinico ships.” As the treasure primarily consisted of Pieces of Eight bearing the Lima mintmark it was requested that coins taken from these prizes might bear the name “Lima” to celebrate the exploit.
Another first-hand account of circumstances that occurred after the French surrendered was recorded in a letter by a lieutenant on board the Prince Frederick, dated August 6, 1745 and printed in the Gentleman’s Magazine in September of 1745 (pages 428-429 shown at left).
“Sir, The 12th of July (which is now the toast here) we took two Rich ships the Marquis d’ Antin and the Louis Erasmus.
As we shot their masts away we were obliged to tow them for three weeks, till we got here, in which we had the good fortune never to be disturbed by Jack Spaniards or Frenchmen. These ships went out four years ago to Peru and Chile and had on board as their bills of lading now come to hand, 1 million sterling and gold and silver coin, besides 800 tons of Cocoa and we are every day discovering more treasure that has been concealed.
There were a vast number of persons of great distinction of France, Spain, Peru, etc. We have a Marquis of France, a Governor of Peru, Friars in abundance, one of whom threw a gold chalice into the sea of great value that it should not come into our hands.
We treated our prisoners in such a manner as none were ever treated before. We took not the value of a penny neither watches, money, rings or swords from any of those gentlemen. We took all the cash and plate the common people had and attending them on shore here, we gave every common man 20 guineas. They say here they were treated as friends, not as common enemies.
We sent an express to London, and she’ll wait here for a convoy. We are now overhauling our prizes, and moving the cocoa into other ships, and even now and then finding wedges of gold, besides this day the Spanish gentleman (finding we would not ransom the ships as they wanted) have discovered a vast treasure hid in the sides of the ships, for which we are to give them a large premium. I compute my share as near as we can guess will come to about 3500 £. Your assured friend J.S.”
The French ships were so heavy laden with treasure, that Talbot decided to tow both prizes home rather than risking overloading his own vessels, which themselves had suffered damage in the fight. The journey back to England took three weeks and required superb seamanship. The four ships arrived safely at Bristol on September 8th, 1745 and it wasn’t until October 1st that the treasure was unloaded and assessed. In all, there were 1,093 chests of silver bullion which, together with large quantities of gold and silver plate and other valuables that filled 45 horse drawn wagons. The weight of the treasure was estimated to be over 78 tons.
The sheer volume of treasure captured from the French ships was staggering. The accounting of the treasure taken from each ship is listed in the 1745 edition of The Gentleman’s Magazine (Page 419 shown at left)
The Louis Erasmus held:
- 1,277,726 Pieces of Eight
- $221,229 worth of gold pistoles and doubloons
- $30,000 worth of gold bars
- $10,000 worth of wrought plate
Total value was $1,538,955 in 1745 currency.
The Marquis d’Antin held:
- 1,387,589 Pieces of Eight
- $79,464 worth of gold doubloons
- $2,000 worth of gold bars
- $1,000 worth of wrought plate
Total value was $1,470,053 in 1745 currency.
The combined haul was valued at $3,009,008.00.
Today, the treasure captured from both ships would have been worth in excess of $390,000,000.
The Notre Dame de la Déliverance, which had escaped the Prince Frederick and the Duke on July 10th was captured two weeks later on July 24th and an article written in the October 4, 1745 edition of “The Scots Magazine” as well as the “London Gazette”, reported that “the Notre Dame de la Déliverance (which escaped from the Prince Frederick and the Duke) a French ship from Lima having on board 300,000 £ Stirling in gold, silver, and a cargo of cocoa, Peruvian wool, and Jesuits Bark taken by the Sutherland and Chester.” (Jesuit’s Bark was a remedy for malaria, as the bark contains quinine.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesuit’s_bark
The National Archives of the United Kingdom provides more details and states “the Notre Dame de la Déliverance was a French merchant ship contracted as a Spanish register ship (300 tons, 22 guns, 60 men and 1 passenger) bound from Callao, Peru to [Cadiz], laden with $1,280,000 in silver, and cocoa, in company with the Marquis D’Antin and the Louis Erasme; the two latter ships (carrying $3,000,000 in silver plus cargo) were taken in a fight on July 10th 1745 by the privateers Prince Frederick (James Talbot commanding) and Duke (Morecock commanding), but the Deliverance fled to take refuge in Louisbourg.
Deliverance (in morning fog, and by the deception of the armed brigantine Boston Packet of Massachusetts (William Fletcher commanding, since deceased) acting on Fletcher’s initiative as a lure under French colours) was taken on 28 July/13 August 1745 off Cape Breton Island by HMS Sunderland (John Brett commanding), and HMS Chester (Philip Durell commanding), both coming out from Louisbourg under French colours, and was brought into Louisbourg, where the ship was broken up in search of the treasure.” Source: Captured ship: Notre Dame de la Deliverance or Nuestra Senora de la Delibranza of St… | The National Archives
The total captured silver coin from the four ships would be about 5,259,158 Pieces of Eight.
Given the sheer volume of Pieces of Eight that were captured from the Erasmus, Marquis d’ Antin, Notre Dame de la Déliverance, and Covadonga, it is more than likely that most of the coins minted at the Lima mint from 1742-1744 were captured by the British and melted down to make 1745 and 1746 British Crowns, Half Crowns, Shillings, and Six Pence that bear the privy mark “Lima” under King George II’s portrait.
Any Lima 8’s that did make it past the British to Spain would have been melted down and converted into traditional Spanish coins, which makes this coin a very rare survivor indeed!
For more history on this coin and the millions of Pieces of Eight captured by the British during in the early 1740’s, visit https://commodorecoins.com/treasure-blog/british-silver-coins-commemorating-victory-at-sea/
In stock
$2,850.00
