Pirate Sunken Treasure Coins from La Consolacion. Treasures Coins & Coin Jewelry

In April 1681 three large galleons left Callao, the port of Lima, Peru, for Panama. On board was large shipment of gold and silver destined to be transferred overland at Panama to meet the Galleons. That treasure fleet sailed most years from Porto Bello, Panama to Spain, bringing the the wealth of the New World to Carlos II’s money-starved Spain..

This year there had been a delay of over a month in Callao waiting for another smaller galleon, the Santa Maria de la Consolacion. That ship had been held up because of the late arrival of the silver bullion and specie from the Potosi mines. By the time it arrived in Callao, the Armada del Mar del Sur (name of the fleet which carried the treasure between Peru and Panama) had already sailed. The Viceroy of Peru, ignoring advice from royal officials who feared the ship would be in danger from pirates, ordered La Consolacion to sail alone.

Sure enough, an English privateer/pirate was waiting for the ship. English sources all claim that the privateers under Captain Sharpe only had two small vessels. La Consolacion’s Captain Lerma first altered course and attempted to reach safety in Guayaquil. But when he found that the English "DEVIL PIRATES" were gaining on his ship, he attempted to take evasive action near the desolate Santa Clara Island, later named "Isla Muerte" or " "The Island of the Death"

While nearing that island, his ship struck a reef or some rocks and quickly began to sink. La Consolacion soon settled on the shallow bottom, Officers, passengers and crew abandoned ship in several small boats and set fire to the galleon to prevent the capture of the treasure. They all then headed for the safety of a nearby rocky island.

Sharpe's men were indeed in hot pursuit. They were especially angry because the Spaniards had fired the ship to protect its bullion cargo. The English managed to capture many of the crew and passengers. They became even more furious when they learned the magnitude of the treasure they had missed seizing. The prisoners were beheaded!

The English tarried about in the area for several days, forcing several local fisherman to try to recover some of the treasure. It proved to be utterly all in vain, as they only were able to pull up were some sails and rigging. The site of the shipwreck was then abandoned and lay forgotten for 320 years until modern searchers rediscovered it in 1998.

The fate of La Consolacion was the fate of many Spanish treasure galleons in this era The classic era of piracy in the Caribbean extends from around 1560 until the 1720s. Caribbean piracy arose out of, and mirrored on a smaller scale, the conflicts over trade and colonization among the rival European powers of the time. England, Spain, the Dutch United Provinces, and France were often at war. The seizure of rich Spanish Treasure galleons was often the cause of these wars!