2011 – Zuytdorp Shipwreck $1 fine silver proof coin

The storv of the Dutch East India Compan) ship VOC Zuvtdorp is as intriguing as any detective mystery. One of four Dutch East India Company vessels known to have
wrecked off the west coast of Australia It is the. onlv one trom which no survivors managed to report the event The VOC Zuytdorp left the Netherlands in August 1711, bound for Batavia, or modern- day Jakarta. She carried 286 people and a cargo of trading goods and silver coins, including 2 and 6 stuiver pieces minted that same year.

The ship met its rocky end south of Shatk bay during the winter of 1712. Artefacts from the wreck of the Zuytdorp were tirst discovered on sea cliffs in 1927 by a local stockman, lom Pepper. These and other land artefacts provide evidence of survivors. It wasn’t until 1954 that any clues about the ship’s identity were discovered, when Pepper told geologist Phillip Playford about the site, who proceeded to uncover coins dated ‘1711’ in the vicinity, It was these that identified the Zuytdory.

Braving the location’s treacherous conditions a diving expedition led by Tom Brady in 1964 fnallv discovered the wreck itselt, and later ? carpet of silver which is what became Or the ship’s gleaming coin cargo The Western Australian Museum has beer responsible for the site since 1969, and despite many efforts to secure the wreck and recove its bounty, it has fallen victim to looting and vandalism. Research into the Zuytdor wreck and the fate of its likely survivors continues today.