El Cazador 2 Reales Fragment NGC Slab(B)

Typical Mexico 2 real fragment recovered from the 1784 wreck of the El Cazador. The Legendary Shipwreck of El Cazador (1784) In the late 18th century, Spains economy was in crisisespecially in colonial Louisiana, where worthless paper money had replaced silver coins. To stabilize the region, King Carlos III ordered a secret mission: a Spanish brig named El Cazador (The Hunter) was loaded with nearly 450,000 silver coins and set sail from Veracruz, Mexico, bound for New Orleans in January 1784. But El Cazador never arrived. The ship vanished without a trace in the Gulf of Mexico, lost to history and declared missing by August of that year. For nearly two centuries, her fate remained a mysteryuntil a fishing trawler accidentally discovered the wreck in 1993. Tangled in its nets were silver coins, remarkably preserved, glittering in the deep-sea darkness for over 200 years. Today, the treasure of El Cazador offers a tangible link to a dramatic moment in world history: Spains colonial ambitions, the economic turmoil of the Americas, and a sunken fortune recovered from the depths.