São José (1622)

The São José, a Portuguese carrack, carrying a legendary silver treasure from Philip III, King of Portugal, sank off the coast of Mozambique during the course of its journey from Portugal to India in 1622 due to an attack by the second Anglo-Dutch fleet of defense.

For nearly 400 years, the wreck of the São José remained hidden off the isolated coast of East Africa until her discovery in May 2005 by a treasure-hunt company.

The extraordinary wreck was destroyed. The treasure-hunters recovered some 24,000 silver reales coins, representing a rare collection of Old and New World mints with a wide variety of dates and denominations—the stunning remains of King Philip III’s royal treasure once bound for India when Spain and Portugal together claimed a vast overseas empire.