17th-Century Dutch Ship with 400+ Moroccan Gold Coins ID’d
On June 18, 2026 researchers identified a 17th-century shipwreck found in 1995 off Salcombe Bay as the Dutch trader Dom van Keulen, which sank in 1633 carrying over 400 Moroccan gold coins.
Researchers confirmed on June 18, 2026 that a shipwreck discovered in 1995 off Salcombe Bay is the Dutch trader Dom van Keulen. The identification followed a nearly 30-year investigation led by the British Museum, Bournemouth University and the South West Maritime Archaeology Group.
Divers first located the site in 1995 and recovered more than 400 gold coins from the seabed. The most recently struck coin recovered dated to 1632, establishing a terminus post quem for the sinking. Archival research in the UK National Archives connected the wreck to a 1633 claim recorded in the High Court of Admiralty by Amsterdam merchants João de Pas and Andrea de Azevedo.
Documents show the Dom van Keulen sailed from Morocco to the Netherlands in autumn 1633 and encountered severe weather off the Devon coast. Court records describe a leak and the loss of the vessel; contemporary accounts indicate the crew survived. Researchers say much of the ship’s original cargo was salvaged soon after the sinking, leaving the gold coins as the clearest surviving trace on the seabed.
Professor Dave Parham of Bournemouth University listed the ship’s manifest as 150 bags of gum arabic, 64 bags of saltpetre, 320 goat skins and 9,000 Barbary ducats, a form of Moroccan gold coinage. The wreck measures about 98 feet in length and retains structural elements and artefacts including cannons, anchors and smaller cargo items.
The site is designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 and is managed by Historic England. Diving at the location is restricted to licensees approved by the Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The area is monitored by the National Coastwatch Institution’s Prawle Point station and patrolled by Devon & Cornwall Police under an operation known as Operation Birdie.
The research team published a 2026 book presenting the archaeological survey, the coin finds and the documentary evidence that linked the physical site to the Dom van Keulen. An Open Access version of the publication is available online.
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