Witnesses watched helplessly as the Admiral Gardner sank after running aground on the Goodwin Sands of the South Foreland, England. On the fateful day of January 24, 1809, seven crewman and cargo of newly minted coins fell deep into the sands and lay buried for almost 200 years.

The English East India Company, founded in 1600 and granted a charter by Elizabeth I, played a unique role in the development of world trade. Its influential investors and large fleet of fighting ships were responsible for many of the first English colonies. The company opened and controlled many of the new and exotic trade routes in the new world, India and Asia making it a true world power. So influential was the English East India Company, it even minted its own coinage with is distinctive coat of arms. Because these beautiful coins were tightly wrapped and stowed in secure wooden casks, the cold water and soft mud of the English Channel preserved them exceptionally well.

The Admiral Gardner, a triple deck square rigger constructed of oak and teak, along with her sister ship Britannia, were loaded with these coins destined for India to pay workers in the Bengal and Madras, when severe storm ran her aground.

The modern day discovery of the wreck of the Admiral Gardner provides a unique opportunity to own a piece of this unusual Sunken Treasure. These are not reproductions. They are the original coins from the ship

Use with permission from S.T.