What happened to all the treasure?

[Tommi]

I read a lot about all these great treasures such as emeralds and rubies as large as my fist, solid gold statues, amazing jewels etc... all these amazing treasures...

Now, I don't doubt that the ship wrecks were carrying these treasures, but I'm sure some of them must of made it back to Spain at one stage or what ever port the ship came from, but my question is where are these treasures now

 

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[Eu_citzen]

Tommi one word for you RESEARCH thats the way to go you mostly don't stumble up on treasure.

I don't think the ship wrecks made it back...at least not the majority.

That is mostly the key the research no matter what kind of treasure hunting your into.

 

[rgecy]

Typically, "Ship Wrecks" don't make it to their destination!

I think what he is asking is "Where did the treasure go that DID make it back to Spain?"

I would say they were lost to History! What does that mean? The gold and jewels were used to finance wars, build mighty armadas or trade for goods with other countries in time of need. Spain was struggling to keep its hold on the world as a superpower with a massive armada. I don't think they would have thought twice about melting down a gold statue if times were tough. In 1715 for example, the government was essentially bankrupt!

Remember, to them what we call "Treasure" was their livelyhood, not some precious artifact to put in a museum. It was what they used to buy goods and survive day to day.

As for the common items like silver and gold coins, jewelry, emeralds, etc. They were traded, lost, reused, melted down, etc. Just like today!

But we know there is a lot left out there waiting to be found! Research is the key!

Good Luck!

Robert

 

[Tommi]

Thanks RGecy - makes sense, also during times of war I guess most would have been stolen from collectors and such.
I've been researching mostly shipwrecks here in Australia, so not to cluey on the 1715 fleet etc, though some of the posts of recent have been fantastic reads.

The ships I've been interested in aren't treasure ships, though most likely would be ships used to navigate coast lines, which actually reminds of another question, has anyone ever found portolans? and whats the chances of one remaining intact after say 400-500years? buried above the sea / or in fresh water / or in sea water?

To find maps that a ships chart maker would of painted on dried animal skins would be a treasure in its own right.

 

[Trez]

RGecy your quote "Remember, to them what we call "Treasure" was their livelyhood, not some precious artifact to put in a museum. It was what they used to buy goods and survive day to day."

I think I'll have to disagree to parts of that quote...
The coinage, silver/gold bar, plundered gold/silver and common trade items were used freely by Spain for all the reasons RGecy stated, this I will agree....

But the priceless artifacts - "Treasure" as I think Tommi is asking about (Ships did make it back to Spain)... such as "Worked Gold" would never leave the hands of the Spanish owners...as freely as you think...despite Spains financial woes.

The picture that you paint is that everything that sailed on these vessels was to be recycled into the poor Spanish economy...

Melting down gold statues?, priceless gem/worked gold jewelry? to melt down pieces that were made specific for the elite "Spanish" and hierarchy... I doubt it highly.

We call it Treasure...They called it Tesoro. They all shared a mutual feeling I would think, in that there are some things that were ok to let go and to be used...and some things you never let go.

Trez

 

[Chagy]

Not sure what happened to all of it, but this can explain what happened to some of it......

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,115296.0.html

 

[Salvor6]

Tommi, a lot of the gold and silver was donated to the church during the reign of King Philip II. The Valencia Cathedral is almost solid gold inside and they claim to have the Holy Grail. The Toledo Cathedral is also covered with gold inside and there is a 16th century monstrace made of solid gold and silver weighing over 500 pounds.
All the silver and gold coinage was owed to European countries for goods and services. They bought wood from the Black Forests of Germany to build ships, sailcloth from England, rigging from Russia, food and vegetables from France, etc. When the 1715 fleet sank Europe went into a depression because Spain couldn't pay the money they owed.
To answer your other question, the Spaniards never used portolans on their ships. They had seats on the edge of the poop deck to dump their waste overboard.

 

[mad4wrecks]

http://www.cyberspain.com/passion/prado.htm