The Tool Desk
Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →The San José was not newly unearthed in 2025. The June 2025 reporting covered a study of gold coins documented on the wreck site, which strengthened the case that the wreck is the San José, a Spanish naval galleon lost off Colombia in 1708. The work described was noninvasive. The coins stayed on the seabed, and recovery was deferred until documentation and assessment are complete. The treasure’s value and ownership remain disputed.
The headline’s wording comes from a June 10, 2025 article in Indian Defence Review. Its “royal secrets” phrasing is framing rather than a finding, and the evidence described concerns coin design, minting and colonial maritime trade.
What was actually reported in June 2025
The core news was a study of gold coins recovered in imagery and documentation from the wreck, not a fresh discovery. Smithsonian Magazine’s June 23, 2025 report by Aurora Martínez describes the coins as hand-struck, irregularly shaped gold cobs, also called macuquinas, found in the wreck’s stern at nearly 2,000 feet below the Caribbean surface. Popular Science’s June 11, 2025 report by Andrew Paul covers the same coin study and its identification evidence.
Which ship is this?
The San José was a Spanish naval galleon carrying colonial wealth toward Europe during the War of the Spanish Succession. It sank in June 1708 after a battle with British forces near Colombia. The wreck was discovered, or announced as a probable rediscovery, in 2015. The 2025 study added evidence supporting the San José identification. It did not establish the wreck’s existence for the first time.
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What the coins show
A 1707 Lima mint date
The coins are reported as dated 1707, one year before the San José sank. Their design features and marks point to the Lima mint. These include the assayer’s “H” and the crowned Pillars of Hercules above waves, a design associated with Lima. Smithsonian’s reporting gives an average diameter of 32.5 millimeters and a weight of about 27 grams, measured from high-resolution imagery.
Why the marks matter
Hand-struck cobs were produced in large numbers and varied in shape and weight, so a single coin rarely identifies a ship on its own. The value of the 2025 study lies in combining the mint date and marks with other site evidence. A coin minted in 1707 cannot have been aboard a ship lost in 1706, and the assayer’s mark narrows its origin to a specific mint.
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Other finds on the site
Researchers also identified Chinese porcelain from the Kangxi period and cannons with inscriptions dated 1665. These materials add context about the trade routes and the wreck’s archaeological setting. They do not on their own confirm the wreck’s identity.
How the site was documented without disturbing it
The study team used a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), photogrammetry and digital mapping to build a three-dimensional reconstruction of the site and to analyze the finds in place. Smithsonian’s report says the current phase was noninvasive and that excavation or recovery would wait until full documentation and assessment are finished. For readers, the practical outcome is that the coins are documented, not salvaged.
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Why “royal secrets” overstates the finding
The coverage shows imperial coinage and colonial trade in the 1700s. It does not reveal new information about individual monarchs or courts. The phrase suggests a revelation that the evidence does not contain.
Cause of the sinking
Contemporary accounts attributed the loss to a gunpowder explosion. Smithsonian reports that more recent research has suggested the vessel split open. Both accounts are historical interpretations, and the sources reviewed do not settle the question.
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How much is the treasure worth?
There is no verified market value. The figures in circulation are historical estimates and are not appraisals. National Geographic’s November 21, 2023 report by Tom Metcalfe, which predates the 2025 coin study, gives a range from about $4 billion to $20 billion. It also quotes researcher Daniel de Narváez’s estimate of roughly $4 to $5 billion, based on cargo lists.
| Figure | Source and date | Method | What it measures |
|---|---|---|---|
| About $4 billion to $20 billion | National Geographic, November 21, 2023 | Broad media range; basis not stated in the sources reviewed | A reported range, not a valuation |
| Roughly $4 billion to $5 billion | Researcher Daniel de Narváez, quoted by National Geographic, November 21, 2023 | Calculation from cargo lists | An estimate of the cargo’s historical value |
Neither figure is a present-day market price. Coins from a wreck with protected status would also not sell at a bullion value, so the estimates should be read as historical cargo values only.
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Who claims the treasure?
Four parties have made competing claims, and the sources reviewed do not resolve them.
- Colombia controls the site because it lies within its territorial waters.
- Spain bases its claim on the ship’s identity as a Spanish naval vessel.
- Representatives of the Indigenous Qhara Qhara people assert a claim linked to the colonial-era extraction of the wealth carried aboard.
- Sea Search Armada claims it located the wreck earlier.
Carla Rahn Phillips, a historian and author quoted by Smithsonian Magazine, summarized the situation: “It’s a great mess, and I see no easy way out of this.” Lead author Daniela Vargas Ariza, an archaeologist, stated her assessment that “The San José galleon is the only ship that matches these characteristics.” That is her conclusion from the evidence, not a legal ruling on identity or ownership.
Where things stand
The available coverage does not establish a court ruling, arbitration outcome or final ownership settlement, and it does not describe a current recovery operation. Coverage dated 2025 reflects the status at that time. Anyone making present-tense claims about recovery or legal proceedings should check current reporting from Smithsonian, National Geographic or Colombian government sources first.
Further reading
Carla Rahn Phillips’s book The Treasure of the San José: Death at Sea in the War of the Spanish Succession is named in Smithsonian’s coverage and provides the historical background to the voyage and the wreck.
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