GOLD SOVEREIGN COIN FROM SPINK AUCTION 118 IN NOVEMBER 1996

COIN IS AYTACHED TO ORIGINAL AUCTION LISTING

COIN SIZE 21MM

COIN CONDITION VF-20 SHOWS SIGNS SEA WATER DAMAGE

SOVERIGN DATED 1872

R.M.S DOURO SUNK ON HER 62 SECOND VOYAGE FROM BRAZIL TO ENGLAND IN 1882

SHE WAS FOUND IN 1993 AND THIS GOLD COIN SOVERIGN WAS AUCTIONED IN 1996

1872 Gold Sovereign Coin Victoria Young Head Crowned Shield London. The 1872 gold full sovereign features the young head portrait of queen Victoria as the obverse design, with the reverse showing the Crowned Shield by William Wyon. William Wyon designed the Young Head portrait on the 1872 Victoria gold sovereign

The Douro: a transatlantic ship

The Douro was a steamship built in 1865 in Scotland. As a cargo ship of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Co. (RMS), it could accommodate 313 passengers and a crew of 80, but was primarily intended to carry mail and newspapers. Its hold was also often filled with goods and precious cargoes of gold and diamonds.

This ocean liner had undertaken no less than 61 voyages for 17 years. It always sailed the South Atlantic seas and served the route between Buenos Aires, Argentina and Southampton, UK. It transited through Portugal, hence its name, borrowed from the Iberian river that links Spain to Porto. It never completed its 62nd voyage, as it sank on the last leg of its journey.

1rst April 1882: the night of the tragedy

The ship left the port of Lisbon 1.5 hours late on 31rst March. To make up for the undue delay, it sailed at full speed towards England. On the evening of the 1st, on a full moon night, the Douro passed off Cape Finisterre.

The fourth officer of the ship spotted another ship about 3.7 km away. Thinking that the sailor on the bridge had also noticed him, he did not consider it necessary to inform him. What a critical error! At around 10.45 PM, the RMS Douro was hit on its starboard side by the Spanish Yrurac Bat. Within 30 minutes, the boats sank. The passengers were saved in extremis, but six members of the Douro’s crew died, including the captain and the first officer, who let themselves be carried away with their ship and the gold cargo. The survivors, rescued by the British steamer Hidalgo, were taken to La Coruña in Spain.