1601 Silver Schelling from Meerensteijn Wreck

This silver Schelling dated 1601 was recovered from the wreck of the Dutch East Indiaman, the Meerensteijn, which was shipwrecked in 1702 near Jutten Island, Saldanha Bay, on the south west coast of South Africa.

The modern word “Shilling" is derived from the old German (or Dutch) word "Schelling".

What is interesting about this coin is that it was already 101 years old when the Meerensteijn sank in 1702 and was only recovered 270 years there after in 1972.

Please see following picture...

 See Malcolm Turner’s “Shipwrecks and Salvage in South Africa”: 1988: P. 115, for a list of recovered coins from the Meerensteijn wreck (1702), probably South Africa’s most famous treasure shipwreck.

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