Could an Abrolhos coin determine the fate of the ‘Vergulde Draeck’ (1656) survivors?

The discovery of a single Spanish Netherlands Brabant ducaton on Gun Island in the Abrolhos Islands in December 2013 may be a clue to the fate of the 68 Vergulde Draeck survivors who disappeared from the Western Australian coast in 1656.

The coin was found by Graham Boyd, using a metal detector. Boyd was with Hugh Edwards as they searched for possible evidence of a second Dutch shipwreck near Gun Island. Edwards believes the Aagtekerke (1726) may have been wrecked close to the known location of the Zeewyk (1727).

The West Australian 14/12/2014

Could there be a link between the Gun Island coin and the Vergulde Draeck?

For almost a decade I have been fascinated by the mysterious fate of 68 survivors who came ashore from the Vergulde Draeck (also known as the Gilt Dragon) wreck near Ledge Point, south of Lancelin and north of Perth, Western Australia. After the wreck seven survivors from the Vergulde Draeck sailed to Batavia in a small ship’s boat to get help and the resulting search efforts by the Dutch authorities failed to find any sign of the remaining survivors (see Henderson 1985).

I am currently writing Chasing the Dragon’s Tale: The ‘Vergulde Draeck’ Story which documents my efforts to determine the fate of the survivors.

One scenario I have considered is that the Vergulde Draeck survivors re-floated the large ship’s boat, which was swamped when they came ashore, and also attempted to sail to Batavia (now Jakarta).

I discussed this possibility in my Western Australian Maritime Museum lecture Into Pluto’s Realm: New Light on the Fate of the Vergulde Draeck (1656) Survivors, in 2014.

Graeme Henderson also contemplates this idea in Unfinished Voyages:Western Australian Shipwrecks 1622-1850. Henderson cites the discovery of old Dutch material by the survivors of the Zeewijk on Middle Island (see for example Edwards 1975:122) as being possible evidence of the Vergulde Draeck survivors making it as far as the Abrolhos (Henderson 2007:35).

It is a tenuous link indeed, but it is strengthened by the discovery of the ducaton by Boyd and Edwards. The coin is believed to have been minted in 1636.

Edwards told The West Australian, ‘It’s unusual in that the coin was 100 years old when the ship (Zeewyk) was wrecked.’ He said. ‘Its value is half of a seaman’s wage for a month (Pownall 2013:14).’

Three other ducatons have been found on Gun Island in the late 1800s. These were dated 1633,1638 and 1638 (Goldsmith 1946:59). Goldsmith says these were found amongst hundreds, if not thousands of other artefacts believed to be from the Zeewyck.

However, to my knowledge the only other similar ducatons found in Western Australia were located by the Edwards boys north of Moore River in 1931 (Anon. 1931). The town was named Guilderton as a result.

The West Australian 7/2/1931

The ducatons, and half ducatons, they found on the coast were dated from 1637-1655 (Green 1985:8) which predates the wreck of the Vergulde Draeck in 1656 and I believe they were carried ashore by one of the survivors. Ducatons did not form part of the official cargo containing 40 000 coins, reales of eight, believed to have been on the Vergulde Draeck when she sank (Green 1985:16-17). Other coins and silver ingots were found with the Edwards coins.

Green 1985

It is interesting that rare ducatons of a similar age to those found by the Edwards family at Moore River have turned up on the Abrolhos Islands.

Is it possible a Vergulde Draeck survivor also carried ducatons from the wreck which eventually ended up on Gun Island to be found by Boyd and Edwards almost 360 years later?

The Gun Island ducaton is now in the Western Australian Museum collection.

Thank you

Hugh Edwards for discussing his research with me.

Ian McCann for the image of the location of the Edwards’ coins find.

References

Anon. 1931 Moore River Relics. Theory suggested by Coins, Dutch Wreck Three Centuries Ago. The West Australian. 7 February 1931:12.

Edwards, H. 1975 The Wreck on the Half Moon Reef. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.

Goldsmith, F.H. 1946 Treasure Lies Buried Here. Perth: C H Pitman.

Green, J. 1985 Treasures From the ‘Vergulde Draeck’. Perth: Western Australian Museum.

Henderson, G. 2007 Unfinished Voyages: Western Australian Shipwrecks 1622-1850. Nedlands: University of Western Australia Press.

Henderson, J. 1985 Marooned: The Wreck of the Vergulde Draeck and the Abandonment and Escape from the Southland of Abraham Leeman. Perth: St George Books.

Pownall, A. 2013 Wreck hunt unearths historic coin. The West Australian. 14 December 2013:14.

Further reading