The galleon San José, was the Almiranta of the South Seas Armada of 1631. On the 31st of May, the aging ship set sail from Peru, loaded with precious cargo. Her vast riches included nine tons of silver in the form of 1,417 bars and 416 individual wooden chests of silver coins, weighing in at 51 tons. Bound for Panama, the ship struck bottom and began to fall apart, dropping her treasure along a tortuous path of many miles.

In 2013 and 2014, the author and his expert crew of professionals recovered thousands of the coins and artifacts that were lost from the San José in the vicinity of Panama. This recovery resulted in a team effort to conserve and document each coin, and each artifact. This catalog of more than 1,300 coins represents the Grade ONE and Grade TWO specimens in that collection, providing collectors and academics alike with a reference intentionally produced to authenticate those coins.

The reader is provided with a glimpse into important project aspects by Daniel Porter, the author, that were required to bring forward this information in print. Excerpts of historic records that were discovered by Jack Haskins, widely known in the treasure salvage community for his documentation, are included. Carol Tedesco, a renowned numismatist and author of the genre, provides a brief overview of the coins recovered.