1713 8 Reales Cob (23.90 g)

The Whydah is the only definitively identified pirate shipwreck ever discovered. Originally built as a slave ship for the Royal African Company, she was captured in February 1717 in the windward passage between modern-day Cuba and Haiti by the pirate "Black" Sam Bellamy after a three-day chase. Bellamy raised her top deck, refit her as his flagship, and - in a rare gesture of goodwill - gave the original crew a smaller ship from his fleet along with £20.

Bellamy and the Whydah then sailed up the 13 Colonies plundering merchantmen along the way. On April 26th, 1717, off the coast of modern-day Wellfleet, Massachusetts, the Whydah was caught in a deadly nor'easter and smashed against the shore. Of her 146 crew, only two survived alongside ten men from another ship in Bellamy's fleet. Six of the survivors were later convicted of piracy and hanged in Boston.

Hearing of the sinking, the Governor of Massachusetts dispatched salvors to recover the Whydah's estimated cargo of 4.5 tons of silver - but contemporary salvage failed. The wreck was lost to history until 1985, when Barry Clifford located and successfully salvaged her. Today, only approximately 30 to 40 coins from the Whydah have made their way onto the market, most originally distributed to investors in the recovery effort.

This 1713 Potosí 8 Reales cob - assayer Y, 23.90 grams - is one of those rare survivors, certified by NGC and pedigreed to the Whydah Galley within The Knapton Collection.