Silver Haitian Treasure and Columbus's Journeys After His Death
During the 1990's I was a bit of a nomad and adventurer which I've discussed before. I've always been a coin collector as well every since I was a child. So while I was travelling I tended to pick up coins from the places I visited. I have visited most of the islands/countries in the Caribbean with the exception of extremely small islands, Cuba (as a US citizen I wasn't allowed), the Caymans (too expensive) and Haiti which was even back then was a little too dangerous for my liking.
At one point while I was living in Miami for a few months, I did manage to pick up a few coins from Haiti as well as several other islands. Today's featured coin comes from Haiti and celebrates ten years since their revolution. It also featured and commemorates Columbus's first expedition to the Americas.
About the coin:
From numista.com
The coin is pure silver and a proof coin meant to be collectible and not circulated. I really like the three ships on the obverse (front) of the coin along with the island of Hispaniola. The island today is divided into Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It does have some oxidation issues probably from being stored in the Caribbean or Miami for several years, and I got a great deal on it as silver was cheap back in the 1990's.
So today, rather than talk about Haiti, I thought I would focus on Columbus. Not so much his journeys in life, but the journeys his corpse made posthumously.
Christopher Columbus
Interestingly, there are no known portraits of Columbus from his lifetime. Some were made posthumously, so we really don't know exactly what he looked like. So in this case I won't be adding any portraits to get started.
Christopher Columbus I have discussed in other posts. He wasn't the first to discover the Americas, but after he did discover it, it stayed discovered and was a world changing event. The coin above celebrates his first voyage sailing the three ships: Niña, Pinta and Santa María. To be honest, that voyage would have taken a lot of courage to sail into the unknown with the very real possibility of death along the way. I'm not sure I would have have joined him!
In 1893 in Chicago, Illinois, US there was a 400th anniversary celebration that included replica ships sailed from Spain. Below you can see an actual photo of the ships, I hadn't seen it before.
E. Benjamin Andrews
Replicas of the Niña, Pinta and Santa María that sailed from Spain to Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus's first voyage.
But today my focus isn't so much on his journeys in life, but his complicated journeys that occurred after he died.
Where is Columbus Buried?
Christopher Columbus made it know before his death that he wished to be buried on the island of Hispaniola. He died at age 54 in Valladolid, Spain in1506. His remains were initially interred at Chapel of Wonders at Convent of St. Francis, Valladolid. However, his son Diego had the body moved to monastery of La Cartuja in Seville, Spain. From there he may have been moved to Seville Cathedral around 1513.
In 1536 the remains of both Columbus and his son Diego were moved to the cathedral in Santo Domingo, in the modern day Dominican Republic. Finally he had arrived to his desired place of burial. But the tale doesn't end there... In 1793 the French took over Hispaniola, which prompted the moving of his remains to Havana, Cuba.
Cuba then became independent after the Spanish-American War in 1898. At that time at least some of his remains were relocated to Seville Cathedral in Seville, Spain. They were placed in an elaborate tomb as Columbus was an important historical figure and Spanish hero. Those remains were examined in 2003 and DNA samples extracted. They also obtained DNA samples from Columbus's brother Diego, and his youngest son Fernando. The DNA was very badly degraded, but from the strands of mitochondrial DNA (which is passed exclusively mother to son/daughter) they were able to match them to his brother Diego. So the remains in Seville appear to be legitimate.
pinterest.com
Columbus's remains carried on the shoulders of the four sculptures
But the story doesn't end there. In 1877 a priest in Santo Domingo found an old lead box with a leg and arm bones, and was labeled as belonging to Columbus. In 1913 a US physician indicated the remains seemed to legitimate. How he did so without the aid of DNA makes his assessment sole guess work at best in my personal opinion. Notwithstanding, the remains were interred in Columbus Lighthouse in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The government has refused testing on the remains repeatedly, so are they real? Are they his son's remains? No one can really say until testing is done at some point, which may never happen. An additional issue is the humidity of the Caribbean may more rapidly degrade DNA, so are there any usable samples left?
dreamstime.com
Tomb inside of Christopher Columbus Lighthouse
That ends the mystery of Columbus's remains (for now anyway), definitely some in Seville, and maybe some in the Dominican Republic. His journey after death is almost more complicated than his four expeditions during his lifetime.
That will wrap up my post for today, thank you for taking the time to check it out. Please feel free to leave any comments or questions below. Thank you everyone for all of your support, it is truly appreciated. Have a great week everyone!
References:
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces28187.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus
Disclaimer
I am not a financial planner and this isn't financial advice. Please always do your own research before investing your money. You worked hard enough to earn it!
All photos are my own except where indicated.
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When you publish about your coin you always remind me of my brother. He collected coins from the ancient Rome.
Have a good evening 💛
How awesome! Old Roman coins are cool to collect, some are very expensive as well. It's always good to remember our family members, I understand that all too well. I hope you have a great day and that it isn't too hot!
Sadly I think Haiti has gotten even worse from what I have heard. It's a hot mess down there I guess. That's too bad you didn't get to go to Cuba. Things were looking good for a bit there, then it all got reversed.
Haiti is a huge mess now, local gangs run neighborhoods. The only way it could be stabilized is militarily from forces from the outside. The UN won't do it, and I guarantee we won't. No one here wants another endless war, we've had two that lasted more than 20 years!
Cuba sucks... I actually was talking with a friend who lives in Miami, but was a doctor in Cuba before coming to the states. We were going to import custom, high quality cigars from small makers in Cuba. Then administration changes shut that plan down!
Yeah it needs to be someone besides the US for once, but no one will do it. That's too bad about the Cuba thing. It sounds like it was a good plan.
Hard to believe Christopher Columbus died at age 54 such a young age!🙄
What a nice Coin from Haiti, you have in your collection!
Did you ever get a chance to actually visit Haiti?
Haiti as always been way too dangerous to travel there, it's worse now than back in the 90's.
He did die young, but developed a recurrent condition at age 40 that waxed and waned for the rest of his life. No one knows what it was, maybe autoimmune? But his last 14 years must have really sucked!
Good health is really something to appreciate my friend!😇
So many celebrities seem to be dying way too young recently…..
Wow, what a story! Where are Columbus's remains: Dominican Republic or Seville? Mystery!!! Thank you, @thebighigg. So interesting!
And that is a wonderful coin!
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As bizarre as it sounds he might be in both places. It's possible that a leg and arm were kept behind in Santo Domingo when the rest of him went to Cuba. But until the Dominican Republic allows DNA testing on the bones we'll never know for sure!
The site they built is the Seville Cathedral is really stunning isn't it? Such beautiful art! Thanks @silversaver888 ! I think you're the only one who read that far down in the post!
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Yes, the Seville Cathedral is sure imposing! ! Always read the entirety of your post, @thebighigg .
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that is a very interesting history and story abut Columbus. I wonder what will the world be if he didn't decided to circle the world to the west from Europe.
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He changed the world, for better or worse! Because he was an important historical figure his remains were likely separated because everyone wanted to claim they had his body. The cost of fame!
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His body parts being at two or possibly more places. Good grief, what did he die from? It almost sounds like Columbus met up with a bad crowd and was murdered then dismembered with his body parts sent all over the Caribbean to send a message.
"Hey Luigi, take our Mr. Columboy out for a ride."
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No one really knows what killed him, but he had an ailment since age 40 that waxed and waned. It may have been severe gout, reactive arthritis, an autoimmune disease, or something completely different. Apparently weeks at a time he would be out of commission.
I think what may have happened when they moved him to Cuba, some priests in the Dominican Republic kept part of his remains on the island. In those days important people and saints frequently had their bodies dismembered and spread around so everyone could claim they had some of the remains. From our standpoint today it sounds horrific, but it was completely normal and acceptable back then.
If you fall in with a bad crowd in the Caribbean, you become shark food! lol
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