Dr. Peter Jones:
Numismatic Books for the Curious Collector
Coffee table books full of stunning color photos
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Peter's Books on Coins: A Collector's Treasure
Peter, a passionate collector and retired physician, has published several numismatic books based on some of his collections of coins and banknotes, which have since been sold at auction. His books are available for download on the Newman Numismatic Portal, but if you prefer tactile, real-life books, you can buy them here. Just click on the book for more details.
One of Peter's readers told him he kept his books by his armchair to read after dinner every night, enjoying a new story every night. Peter's coffee table books offer stunning full-page color coin photographs and stories about each coin or piece of paper money.
Peter is a life member of several numismatic organizations, including the American Numismatic Association (ANA), the New England Numismatic Association (NENA), and the United States-Mexico Numismatic Association (USMEXNA). He is also a member of the American Numismatic Society (ANS), the International Bond and Share Society (IBSS), the Colonial Collector’s Coin Club (C4), and the Mansfield Numismatic Society (MNS), of which he is president.
Why Collect Coins?
Around 650 BCE, money emerged as one of humankind's greatest inventions. It shaped the course of human history, supercharged trade, and simplified hiring soldiers to fight wars. Later, it helped build the West’s successful economic system, the industrial revolution, and modern business.
Along the way, rulers used images on coins as propaganda when few could read or write. Money provides a fascinating window into history, geography, economy, culture, aesthetics, and art.
When you hold a coin in your hand, you can wonder who held that coin in ancient times and what it meant for them. It can make you feel a living connection with your human past. Human nature needs ritual to connect with our roots, but as Joseph Campbell (an American scholar of comparative religion and mythology) said, we no longer have storytellers or elders to give us living proof of our roots. Objects from the past have become our modern storytellers. And coins are the most powerful.
Purchase Your Copies Today
If you are a coin collector, history buff, or simply enjoy learning about new things, Peter's numismatic books are a must-have.
The Legendary San José Wreck 1708: A Tale of Treasure, Tragedy, and Deceit
In 1708, amid the tumult of the War of Spanish Succession, British ships battled the Spanish galleon San José galleon off Cartagena, Colombia. They knew immense riches were on board. But the evening after an exchange of fire, her powder magazine suddenly exploded, and she sank. Estimates suggested she carried 7 to 11 million pesos (190 to 300 tonnes of silver), 11 million gold coins (around 70+ tonnes of gold), and a bounty of emeralds. She is the holy grail of shipwrecks worth $4 billion to $20 billion. Her exploration has gone in fits and starts since 1981, besieged by legal fights. Spain, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Panama, and the salvage company, Sea Search Armada, have all claimed her riches. Her immense treasures have fired tribal wars between archaeologists and treasure hunters. Let’s explore her saga:
Timeline of the San José
1698: Spain launched the San José, a majestic 3-masted, 1051-ton, 131-foot, 62-gun galleon.
1701-1714: The War of Spanish Succession raged. As the childless Carlos II of Spain lay dying in 1700, he appointed the French Bourbon, Philip as successor. Fearing this French and Spanish alliance, Britain, Austria, and the Dutch Republic started the War of Spanish Succession. After millions of deaths, the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht dictated Philip V remain king of Spain, but he had to renounce future claims to the French throne.
1708: The San José, flagship of the Spanish Treasure Fleet, was returning from the New World under the Count of Casa Alegre, General José Fernández de Santillán. The fleet had 3 warships and 14 merchant vessels. Despite warnings the British were lying in wait for them, they sailed from Portobello, Panama, to Cartagena, Colombia. Just south of Cartagena, a British squadron of 4 ships under Commodore Charles Wager attacked. The two exchanged fire. Then, after nightfall, while 200 feet away, the San José’s powder magazine suddenly exploded, sending her 2,000 feet below the surface. Of 600 souls, only 11 survived. Though her manifest is lost, she supposedly carried 7 to 11 million pesos of silver, gold coins, and emeralds. However, extra smuggled bullion was often up to 100% more than manifests listed.
1979: Jim Bannigan and Jim Maloney, New York stockbrokers, founded the Glocca Mora Company (GMC) to search for the San José.
1979 or 1980: Colombia’s Directión General Marítima signed a 50/50 agreement (some say 65/35) with GMC to search a 425 square mile area off Cartagena for wrecks.
1980-1985: GMC discovered six wrecks using a surface side-scan sonar and a deep ROV (remotely operated vehicle).
1981: GMC announced they discovered the San José (the Economist said 1982). Some say they found a cannon. They sent the submarine Piccard to video a shipwreck 660 feet below the surface. Analysis of a wood sample showed it was consistent with a late 1600s galleon. They gave the coordinates as 10º 10’ 17” N-76º 00’ 20” W.
1982: Colombia reneged on the GMC agreement, reducing their offer to 25%. GMC refused. They then said there had been an error in the listed coordinates. When Piccard’s crew recovered a transponder, ready to shut down the operation, the Colombian government tried to arrest them.
1984: GMC sold out to Sea Search Armada (SSA), a Delaware-registered company. SSA raised $10 million through about 100 investors to salvage the wreck. Though Colombia had agreed to honor the transfer, she later reneged and passed a law reducing SSA’s rights to 5% with a further 45% tax!
1989: SSA’s CEO Jack Harbeston sued Colombia. His legal battle continues to this day!
1994: Colombia hired Tommy Thompson to re-explore SSA’s given coordinates but found nothing. However, SSA disputed his credibility, noting he was jailed for concealing $2 to $5 million of treasure from the SS Central America.
1997: The Circuit Court of Barranquilla (a Colombian Appellate court) ruled SSA and Colombia should split the salvage 50/50, despite an earlier 65/35 agreement.
2001: The UNESCO Convention on Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage agreed to prevent plundering underwater shipwrecks over 100 years old. But Colombia, with hundreds of valuable wrecks in its waters, never signed that agreement, signaling her interest in salvage over archaeology.
2007: The Colombian Supreme Court awarded a 50/50 split to Colombia and SSA, saying the treasure did not count as cultural patrimony, reaffirming Colombia’s salvage rather than archaeology interests.
2010: Columbia threatened military action against SSA if they tried to salvage the San José.
2011 and 2015: US courts dismissed SSA’s case on technical grounds, declaring the wreck Colombian property.
2013: Colombia passed a law allowing private contractors to salvage wrecks and keep 50%, further signaling her interest in salvage rather than archaeology.
2014: Roger Dooley (see pictures at end of article) came across the San José’s details at Seville’s Archives of the Indies. He later discovered her pilot’s derrotero (a handwritten book of mariner’s directions) in the British Library. He tried first to persuade the Colombian government, then wealthy Latin Americans to bankroll exploring the San José. But he had no success. So, he teamed up with Anthony Clake, a wealthy English hedge fund partner at Marshall Wace. Dooley and Clake (who loved shipwrecks) then formed MAC (Maritime Archaeology Consultants) in Britain. Within months, Dooley presented Colombia’s President Santos with a 1729 map showing Islets off Cartagena labelled Bajo del Almirante, perhaps a reference to Commodore Charles Wager. Intrigued, the President facilitated a meeting with his culture minister.
2015: Colombia soon hired Dooley, who engaged the Wood’s Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI), discoverer of the famous Titanic wreck. Using their AUV Remus 6000 (an autonomous underwater vehicle with side-scan sonar), Dooley led WHOI’s discovery of the San José’s wreck at an estimated cost of $70-$100 million. WHOI found bronze cannon showing decorative dolphins, confirming the identity of the wreck just 12 miles off shore (within her territorial waters). Colombia soon declared the SSA’s 2007 Colombia Supreme Court decision irrelevant, as their coordinates were wrong. SSA’s CEO Jack Harbeston claimed Dooley had worked for him on another project and had stolen the San José’s true coordinates from SSA’s computers. Dooley pointed out SSA’s first coordinates reflected a different ship, at a different depth, several miles away, but SSA refuted that. A Spanish journalist, Jesús García Calero, suggested MAC had a dubious reputation, alleging Tony Blair conspired with President Santos in the MAC deal.
2016: Photos released of the site showed changes since 2015, suggesting salvage had begun.
2018: UNESCO told Colombia not to salvage the vessel. But Colombia never signed the UNESCO agreement and has a right to the wreck if it lies within its territorial waters.
2019: Spain protested Columbia’s salvage of the San José, citing the 570 Spanish lives lost on board.
2020: Colombian Vice President Marta Lucía Ramirez declared all San José’s contents “objects of cultural interest.” This backpedalled Colombia’s previous interest in salvage rather than archaeology and meant the coins could not be sold. However, it defies logic to say so many millions of coins are unique!
2022: SSA sued Colombia for $10 billion in the UN’s Permanent Court of Arbitration.
2023: In November, Colombia’s president announced plans to salvage the San José. With a term ending in August 2026 and low approval ratings, the left-leaning President Gustavo Petro hopes to complete the salvage quickly.
2024: In May, the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History announced a “protected archaeological area,” saying they were exploring the wreck with an ROV, despite no deep-water experience. They plan an archaeological survey costing $4.5 million over two years, but likely will need much more money, more time, and foreign help. Culture Minister Juan Correa still insists the focus is on archeology, not salvage. They claim they will only salvage treasure to establish a museum and not sell anything. But more likely, salvage has already started before a proper archaeological survey, and salvaged items will end up in the pockets of Colombia’s well-connected. Given Colombia's history of reneging on deals, there remains skepticism about their intentions and the fate of any salvaged items.
References
Abbot, R., Treasure hunters sue Colombia for $17 billion courthousenews.com April 29, 2013
Arguing over a shipwreck. Economist, pp 29 June 8, 2024
Caplan, A.L., Columbia shipwreck worth $17 billion to be recovered. People.com, March 21, 2024
Goldberg, L., Hedge fund executive exposed as shipwreck treasure hunter. Soundings online.com. November 20, 2023
Sea Search Armada seeks rights to 1708 San José shipwreck. Coinweek December 10, 2010
Sancton, J., What lies beneath. vanityfair.com January 7, 2022
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wager%27s_Action#cite_note-Holly_Grail-5
http://www.oldsaltblog.com/2012/02/galleon-san-jose-the-holy-grail-of-ship-wrecks/
https://www.whoi.edu/press-room/news-release/new-details-on-discovery-of-the-san-jose-shipwreck/
https://www.whoi.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/1280CannonPile_491315-1200x673.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZg4InxvNSY
https://blog.geogarage.com/2023/11/hedge-fund-tycoon-anthony-clake-doubles.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/san-jose-shipwreck-billions-dollars-treasure-colombia-declares-protected-archeological-area/
