1855 20 Reales (Isabel II)

During the mid-1800s, the lower classes of Europe emigrated en masse to North and South America in search of better lives. Unscrupulous operators routinely overcharged migrants and packed them onto ships that were neither seaworthy nor capable of carrying hundreds of passengers. The Guadalupe IV is a textbook case - renamed three times to obscure her poor history.

Departing Spain on November 4th, 1865, it became clear almost immediately that the ship was in disrepair. Four days into the voyage, a storm swept away one of the lifeboats, which had been loaded with rations. That same evening the Guadalupe IV nearly collided with another ship because she carried no positioning lights. A passenger later discovered that the hull was not watertight: every day the ship took on roughly four feet of water, requiring 12 hours at the pumps.

In the early hours of November 20th, 1865, the Guadalupe IV ran into a reef off the coast of Isla Brava. Survivors maintained that she could have been saved with basic seamanship - but the owner had hired a subpar captain. A later inquiry found the captain had used "unsuitable charts" and that the pilot lacked "the necessary skills" for his job. With the rigging open on the port side, the ship rolled onto her flank and everyone on the port side drowned within five minutes.

The remaining lifeboat was unusable - it had been filled with potatoes. After being cleared and lowered the next day, it sank immediately. Six men grabbed onto debris; with help from the tide, five made it ashore. For the next two days the survivors clung to the wreck on her side. Eventually, after three more drowned, one man swam to shore with a cable and the rest slowly worked their way to land. All that remained aboard were the captain and the children whose parents had drowned. A jerry-rigged raft broke apart halfway to shore, and all aboard were swept into the sea.

This 1855 Madrid 20 Reales of Isabel II is a salvaged survivor of that disaster - certified by NGC and pedigreed to the Guadalupe IV within The Knapton Collection.