In 1563, the 250 ton galleon, “La Madalena,” commanded by Capt.
Cristobel Rodriquez, was returning to Spain from Veracruz, Mexico and
Havana. She was cast up on a shoal during a bad storm and of the 300 odd
souls aboard her, only 16 survived in the small-boat. At the time she carried
over 50 tons of silver in bullion and specie (coins), 170 boxes of worked
silver (like candle sticks, plates, etc.), 1,110 pounds of gold in small ingots
and jewelry, plus other valuables belonging to passengers. Unfortunately,
or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, all of her cannon were
bronze. This makes finding her more difficult as a magnetometer can only
detect ferrous metals. Hopefully she went down with some of her iron
anchors still aboard. The good side is that bronze cannon from this period,
depending on the amount of ornamentation and markings on them, can
bring as much as $30,000 each and she carried 28 of them. Six months
after being lost a salvage vessel was sent up from Havana but failed to find
any traces of her or her cargo. A shrimp boat snagged into a bronze
cannon in the general area she was lost and the gun just happens to date
from this period. The gun was sold to a private collector for $15,000 but
could have netted twice this amount if sold to a museum or in an auction.
Another bronze cannon was also accidentally brought up in a shrimper's
net within two miles of the other, but it dated from the mid-1770's and was
from another wreck. Within five miles from where both guns were found, a
chest of some 3,000 Spanish four and eight real coins, dating between
1748 and 1751 were also accidentally brought up in a shrimper's net.
Cristobel Rodriquez, was returning to Spain from Veracruz, Mexico and
Havana. She was cast up on a shoal during a bad storm and of the 300 odd
souls aboard her, only 16 survived in the small-boat. At the time she carried
over 50 tons of silver in bullion and specie (coins), 170 boxes of worked
silver (like candle sticks, plates, etc.), 1,110 pounds of gold in small ingots
and jewelry, plus other valuables belonging to passengers. Unfortunately,
or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, all of her cannon were
bronze. This makes finding her more difficult as a magnetometer can only
detect ferrous metals. Hopefully she went down with some of her iron
anchors still aboard. The good side is that bronze cannon from this period,
depending on the amount of ornamentation and markings on them, can
bring as much as $30,000 each and she carried 28 of them. Six months
after being lost a salvage vessel was sent up from Havana but failed to find
any traces of her or her cargo. A shrimp boat snagged into a bronze
cannon in the general area she was lost and the gun just happens to date
from this period. The gun was sold to a private collector for $15,000 but
could have netted twice this amount if sold to a museum or in an auction.
Another bronze cannon was also accidentally brought up in a shrimper's
net within two miles of the other, but it dated from the mid-1770's and was
from another wreck. Within five miles from where both guns were found, a
chest of some 3,000 Spanish four and eight real coins, dating between
1748 and 1751 were also accidentally brought up in a shrimper's net.
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