two VOC ships wrecked on the coast of Zeeland

[cornelis 816]

Both of these ships were wrecked in front of the city of Vlissingen in the Netherlands . They were loaded with a lot of gold coins to be used in Asia to purchase spices and porcelain . One of them ,,t Vliegend hart ,, was salvaged by the Englishman Rex Cowan . He screwed the Dutch goverment out of the agreement that was made when he got the permit to salvage . The result is that the ,, Anna Catherina ,, became off limits for future diving expeditions . The gold is still there at a place well documented . Cornelius

 

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[piratediver]

Cornelius: what a shame, any chance the government will let someone go after ANNA CATHERINA?
Did the VOC lose any ships near Borneo?



Pirate Diver

 

[Mackaydon]

Cornelis:
Interesting target, for sure.
Here's a NYTimes article on Cowan.
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/25/your-money/25iht-mtcow.t.html
Best,
Don..

 

[Mackaydon]

Here's some more info on the Anna Catharina:
http://wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?4561

 

[VOC]

Contrary to the first post Rex Cowen has always had a very good relationship with the Dutch government and still does.

If he had ripped off the Dutch government he would not have been invited to run the VOC anniversary project www.voc-flyinghart.co.uk

VOC

 

[Mackaydon]

In 1993 the Queen of the Netherlands made Cowan a Knight of the Order of Orange Nassau for his services to Dutch Underwater Maritime History. A special gallery in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam houses a substantial collection of his recoveries from several Dutch East Indiamen. Cornelis, are we writing about the same guy?
Don.....

 

[cornelis 816]

Don , we are talking about the same guy . What happened was that there was a deal made about how to devide the spoils of the salvage . Rex and the Dutch government came to an agreement . Don had been working the wreck for quite some time after which he decided to go for a bigger part of the spoils . The Dutch government agreed to his new proposission . The next day he discovered and salvaged the coffers of gold coins . Quite remarkable if you ask me ! The Dutch government new they were been had . The next thing that happened was a stop to any further salvage of the Anna Catherina . The Dutch government was grateful for the work that Rex did so they rewarded him with all these things mentioned in this post . Cornelius

 

[Mackaydon]

Cornelis:
You mention: The next thing that happened was a stop to any further salvage of the Anna Catherina.
It has been my understanding that the Anna Catharina (sis) has never been found. So was it found and salvage begun by Cowan or another group?
Don.....

 

[VOC]

Unfortunately the story about Rex Cowen is largely just a malicious rumour, the deal with the Dutch government was agreed many years before the wreck was found and did not change. There were representatives of the Rijks museum on board during the location and excavation of the only coin chest found. Other lose coin was also found under supervision from the museum. There is disputed stories of Cowens contractor illeagally exporting some Ducatoons.

Various searches have been made for the Anna Catherina but it appears to have been heavily trawled by trawlers, is in a very tidal location and is difficult to search due to the proximity to shipping lanes.

As far as I know there is nothing stopping the location and excavation but I believe Mr Cowen had or has a contract in place for this wreck as well.

in 2005/6 a similar recovery with a Dutch government/Cowen split of finds was made for the wreck of the Rooswijk.

Wikipedia:
"Lying at a depth of about 24 m, the Rooswijk was discovered on the Goodwin Sands by an amateur diver in 2004. It lies in about 24 metres (79 ft) of water at the northeast end of Kellett Gut.

In December 2005, it was made public that between May and September of that year a team led by Rex Cowan had recovered some of the ship and its contents. This was done in secrecy to avoid attracting looters. Artifacts recovered included approximately one thousand bars of silver, gold coins and a mustard jar. When the VOC was disbanded in 1798, its possessions fell to the Batavian Republic, the legal successor of which is the current Dutch State, which therefore is entitled to the objects from the Rooswijk. They were presented to Junior Minister of Finance Joop Wijn in Plymouth on 11 December 2005.

The type of coins recovered were several hundred Mexican silver cobs of the 1720s and early 1730s and transitional "klippes" of 1733-1734, as well as many more hundreds of “pillar dollars” and a smattering of cobs from other mints.

The salvage operation has led to criticism from heritage organisations worldwide, as some of the international principles concerning the protection of archaeological heritage (Valetta Treaty 1992, UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage 2001) were ignored.

The wreck site was designated as a protected wreck on 18 January 2007. Statutory Instrument 2007/61.

 

[Mackaydon]

My understanding is the Ducatoons were illegally placed on board the vessel as contraband by the original crew. The exportation of this contraband was for the purpose of getting about 15-20% more for the coins in the destination port compared to the port of embarcation. It had nothing to do with Cowan, but what do I know?
Don.......

 

[VOC]

"My understanding is the Ducatoons were illegally placed on board the vessel as contraband by the original crew"

That would stack up, as leagally contraband carried would probably fall outside any latter agreement between a goverment and a salvor unless it had been specifically included.

VOC

 

[Alexandre]

Nice maps. Realy X marks the spot.

I have found, on the other way, the wrecksite of VOC Schoonhoven, wrecked off Portugal in 1626.

Would love to know about this jacht.

 

[Mackaydon]

Alex:
You gave a lecture on that vessel last year at Alcacer do Sal.
What do you want to know; Cornelis may have the answer.
Don.....