Alejandro Mirabal

Spanish Coins in Mozambican Waters: the Numismatic Collection of the São José (1622) Alejandro Mirabal

The shipwreck codenamed MOG-003 was found in Infusse reef, Mogincual, in the Province of Nampula, Republic of Mozambique, in 2004 during a magnetometer survey of the area. It has been tentatively identified as the São José, a Portuguese Indiaman vice-flagship (Almiranta) from the 1622 fleet en route from Lisbon to Goa, India, lost at this location on the 24th of July of 1622 during a battle against the Anglo-Dutch fleet. The archaeological excavation of this wreck provided a collection of artefacts from the late 16th and the early 17th centuries which allowed the study of the numismatic and artillery aspects of that time. The evidence confirms that the São José was carrying Spanish reales minted in the Americas and Spain, belonging to the Portuguese crown.