In the azure depths of the Caribbean Sea, Colombian scientists recently unearthed a cannon, a trio of coins, and a porcelain cup, marking the initial findings from the legendary Spanish galleon, San José. This ship met its fate in 1708 following an assault by an English fleet.

This discovery is part of a comprehensive scientific exploration sanctioned by the government last year, aiming to delve into the wreckage and uncover the reasons behind the ship’s demise.

Researchers from Colombia first pinpointed the galleon’s location in 2015, sparking a maze of legal and diplomatic challenges. The precise site of the ship remains a closely guarded secret.

The San José is rumored to be laden with a staggering 11 million gold and silver coins, alongside emeralds and other treasures from Spanish dominions, potentially valued at a jaw-dropping $20 billion if brought to the surface.

Such immense wealth has earned the shipwreck the moniker of the ‘Holy Grail of shipwrecks.’

Destined for King Philip V of Spain, the ship tragically sank with a crew of 600 sailors, with only 11 managing to survive the disaster.

President Gustavo Petro’s government has said that the purpose of the deep-water expedition is research and not the treasure’s seizure.

Petro could be seen taking a look at the bronze cannon that was recovered, and which is still in excellent condition. 

A cannon has been recovered from the wreck of the San Jose galleon which sank in 1708

Colombian President Gustavo Petro oversees the recovery of a porcelain bowl from the wreck 

The San Jose galleon was owned by the Spanish crown when it was sunk by the British Navy near Cartagena of the coast of what is now Colombia

Colombia’s culture ministry said in a statement that the cannon, coins and porcelain cup will undergo a conservation process at a lab dedicated to the expedition.

The wreckage is 600 meters (almost 2,000 feet) deep down in the sea. 

The prevailing theory has been that an explosion caused the 62-gun, three-masted galleon to sink after being ambushed by an English squadron. 

But Colombia´s government has suggested that it could have sunk for other reasons, including damage to the hull.

The ship has been the subject of a legal battle in the United States, Colombia and Spain over who owns the rights to the sunken treasure.

Colombia is in arbitration litigation with Sea Search Armada, a group of US investors, for the economic rights of the San José. 

The firm claims $10 billion corresponding to what they assume is worth 50% of the galleon treasure that they claim to have discovered in 1982.

Earlier this year photos were released showing dozens of coins lying scattered around the wreck.  

A detail of an inscription reading ‘Sevilla’ on a cannon recovered from the wreck of the San Jose galleon

Colombian President Gustavo Petro oversees the recovery of a bronze cannon 

Columbian researchers authored the study, which revealed images taken by remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) of dozens of coins that lie scattered around the wreck about 1,970 feet under water 

Archaeologist Daniela Vargas Ariza, of Colombia’s Naval Cadet School and the National Institute of Anthropology and History, said her team used advanced underwater imaging to examine the site.

This technique included high-resolution scans of silver coins found near the stern.

Those coins, known as ‘cobs’ or ‘macuquinas,’ depict the mark of Lima, Peru, and are dated 1707 – the same year the San José set sail.

Some are stamped with the royal symbols of Castile and León, the emblems of Spain’s empire.

‘Hand-struck, irregularly shaped coins – known as cobs in English and macuquinas in Spanish – served as the primary currency in the Americas for more than two centuries,’ she said in a statement.

‘This body of evidence substantiates the identification of the wreck as the San José Galleon.’

‘The finding of cobs created in 1707 at the Lima Mint points to a vessel navigating the Tierra Firme route in the early eighteenth century. The San José galleon is the only ship that matches these characteristics’.

The wreck lies in around 2,000 feet of water about 16 miles off the coast of Cartegena

The recovered items included a cannon

The cannon was made out of bronze and looked to have fared well over the last 300 years

The cannon can be seen being hoisted onto the deck of a Colombian Navy ship

The cannon was carefully moved around the deck to be brought ashore

Some coins were also recovered from the shipwreck and seabed surrounding it

A porcelain cup was still intact despite having spent the last three centuries on the seabed

A crane was used to lower a cage down in order for items to be retrieved from the wreck

A view of the treasure that was aboard the San Jose, including Porcelain crockery, pottery and glass bottles

The Colombian army previously revealed images of the wreck of the San Jose galleon, one of the largest of the Spanish Navy, sunk 300 years ago with its treasure off the Caribbean coast

An intact Chinese dinner set and other fine crockery are amongst the ship’s treasures

he ship is believed to have been holding 11 million gold and silver coins at the time of its sinking

Also found near the site was Chinese porcelain from the Kangxi period 1662 to 1722, and 17th-century cannons dated to 1665.

In 2015 the Colombian government announced that a team from the navy had discovered the legendary ship lying beneath 3,100 feet of water. 

In 2022 another team brought back jaw-dropping images of its perfectly preserved cargo. And in 2023 the Colombian government said it would be raised before President Gustavo Petro’s term of office ends in 2026.

At the time a US firm claimed it found the boat and demanded half the loot. The Spanish government and an indigenous group also claimed to have rights over it. 

Glocca Morra, an American research company, claimed it found the San Jose in 1981 and turned the coordinates over to the Colombians on the condition it would receive half the fortune once the vessel was recovered.

Images of the wrecked Spanish galleon San Jose, off the coast of Cartagena, in the Caribbean Sea

The legendary San Jose Galleon, which sank in 1708 while laden with gold, silver and emeralds estimated to be worth billions of dollars

Crabs walk next to a cannon that belongs to the treasure of the Spanish galleon San Jose, sunk in 1708, at the bottom of the sea off Cartagena, Colombia 

The exact location of this sunken vessel loaded with treasure is a state secret

But this was countered in 2015 by Colombia’s then president, Juan Manuel Santos, who said the Navy had found the boat at a different location on the sea bed.

The 62-gun galleon was sailing from Portobelo in Panama at the head of a treasure fleet of 14 merchant vessels and three Spanish warships when it encountered the British squadron near Barú.

Spain and Britain were fighting the War of the Spanish Succession at the time and the Royal Navy was approaching dominance on the high seas when it sent the San Jose to the bottom.