This is to certify that the accompanying coin was recovered from the wreck site of the santa maria de la consolacion, located near Santa clara island in the Gulf of Guayaquil, ecuador. The consolacion purportedly sank near the island while evading pirates in 1681. She was carrying 146,000 pesos in minted silver coins along with 800 silver bars and gold lingots valued at 34 000 pesos.

Legend says that the pirates were so enraged they took their revenge on the crew before they could reach the safety of the island, and thus the island was nicknamed “Dead Man’s Island.” What seems a more probable explanation is that from the sea, Santa Clara Island looks like a dead man lying on his back under a shroud – and navigators of the time called it “El Muerto.”