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Clive of India Treasure coin - Portugal gold Peca or "Joe"

WillieBoyd2WillieBoyd2 Posts: 5,276 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited September 8, 2024 1:35PM in World & Ancient Coins Forum
Buy the coin and get the story.

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Portugal Peca 6400 Reis 1750-R (Rio de Janeiro mint)
Size: 32mm
Weight: 14.30gm (approx)
Gold: 0.4215oz (917 fine)

The coin was also known as a "Joe" or "Half-Joe" because the king on the coin was Johannes, Latin for John.

These coins circulated around the world, including the the American colonies, and appear in almanacs, including Ben Franklin's.

I do not own many slabbed coins but this one tells a story along with the grade.

Robert Clive (1725-1774), "Clive Of India", was a British officer credited with establishing the Great Britain rule of India.

After his successful military, diplomatic and economic ventures on behalf of the Crown in India, Clive returned to London.

In 1755, he had to travel to India and sent his money, around £3000, ahead, in the form of Portuguse gold Peca coins, an international currency at the time.

The money was put on the "Doddington", and Clive left on another slower ship. The ships left England in April 1755, and near South Africa, the Doddington managed to wreck on the Chaos Islands of Algoa Bay, now known as Bird Island.

A few crew members survived, and after several months, were able to build a boat, sail to Mozambique, and be rescued.

In 1977, professional treasure hunter divers found the wreck and the gold, and claimed it had been found on a ship in international waters, possibly a pirate ship.

The South African government claimed that the gold came from the Doddington, located in their waters, and after years of legal action, South Africa got 1/3 of the treasure, and the finders got the rest.

The coins were sold through auction houses in 2000, there were 830 coins, minted between 1727 and 1754.

The coin that I have is dated 1750, minted in Rio de Janeiro, and graded by NGC (Numismatic Guaranty Corporation) as
"1750R Brazil 6400R / UNC Details / Environmental Damage / Clive of India Treasure"

In 1774 Clive was offered the command of all British forces in North America, but he declined the offer and then killed himself either with a penknife or opium.

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Comments

  • ormandhormandh Posts: 3,111 ✭✭✭
    Wow! Thanks for sharing the story! BTW, nice coin!
  • worldcoinguyworldcoinguy Posts: 3,030 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Neat story and background!
  • PokermandudePokermandude Posts: 2,713 ✭✭✭
    Very cool!
    http://stores.ebay.ca/Mattscoin - Canadian coins, World Coins, Silver, Gold, Coin lots, Modern Mint Products & Collections
  • ColinCMRColinCMR Posts: 1,482 ✭✭✭
    The legacy of Clive's activities influenced my ancestral history

    Great specimen! The coin has a great matte look to it and the strike is awesome
  • Very nice coin with an interesting story. What, more precisely, is the enviromental damage that NCG finds problematic?

    Cheers,

    Auto
    A grade is an inadequate report of an inaccurate judgement by a biased and variable judge of the extent to which a coin corresponds to an undefinable level of an unattainable state of preservation. - Never tell me that grading is science.
  • WillieBoyd2WillieBoyd2 Posts: 5,276 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The "enviromental damage" was from being in the ocean for 200 years.

    From Coin Clinic 2: 1,001 More Frequently Asked Questions by Alan Herbert:

    Q: Does seawater affect silver coins?
    ... An extended period of immersion will even damage the surface of a gold coin.

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  • Well, yes, I see that spending 200 years in the ocean can cause damage (although not necessarily to gold coins), I just did not see any obvious damage on the coin. Does the designation "environmental damage" refer to the coin's tone? In the photo it does not look damaged to me. In fact, the tone is very nice.

    Cheers,

    Auto
    A grade is an inadequate report of an inaccurate judgement by a biased and variable judge of the extent to which a coin corresponds to an undefinable level of an unattainable state of preservation. - Never tell me that grading is science.
  • WillieBoyd2WillieBoyd2 Posts: 5,276 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Grading company's opinion.

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