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What did the San José carry when she sank?

Asked 26 Oct 2026 by ·3 answers·0·0 following
Most likely: the treasure was divided among the warships and merchantmen; the San José carried a large but not dominant…Ahead on the evidence, not yet confirmed. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

Where it stands

Three answers have been proposed. The treasure was divided among the warships and merchantmen; the San José carried a large but not dominant… leads, with evidence 2 for: partly supported by its tests. Two are still possible. Of the one narrower question under it, none is answered yet.

Why it matters

Every valuation and every claim assumes a cargo that no one has documented from the registers. The declared cargo of the 1708 fleet exists in the Seville archives; the wreck itself can show what was aboard⁠[1]⁠[2].

Answers 3

Evidence: 2 for
Most likely
None of these.
Not tested enough to call either way
Evidence: none yet
Still possible
Evidence: 2 for, 1 against
Still possible

History

  1. Jaramillo Arango puts forward: the treasure was divided among the warships and merchantmen; the San José carried a large but not dominant…
  2. Jaramillo Arango: wager's journal says her riches 'must be very great'.For: The flagship carried the bulk of the fleet's treasure, on the order of 11 million pesos in coin plus gold,…
  3. Vargas Ariza et al.: gold cobs of 1707 lie on the seabed in quantity in the ROV images.For: The flagship carried the bulk of the fleet's treasure, on the order of 11 million pesos in coin plus gold,…
  4. Jaramillo Arango: the 2025 review describes an overloaded ship carrying Portobelo-fair goods including Chinese porcelain,…For: The treasure was divided among the warships and merchantmen; the San José carried a large but not dominant…
  5. Asked on this site
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