A 440-year-old coin was found under a church. It helped solve the mystery of a colony that vanished

Archaeologists have discovered a ceremonial silver coin that was placed in the foundation of a church in 1584, at the founding of the ill-fated Spanish colony Ciudad del Rey Don Felipe at the southern tip of Chile. The colony survived for less than three years as harsh conditions devastated its settlers, but archaeologists have now found its “founding coin” exactly where historical records said it had been placed.

According to a report by Popular Mechanics, written by Tim Newcomb, the coin was placed by Spanish navigator and colony founder Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa on March 25, 1584, and remained undisturbed for about 440 years. Researchers say the discovery could offer new clues about the history and layout of the settlement, which was eventually abandoned.

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Ciudad del Rey Don Felipe was established as Spain and England competed for strategic control of South America and the Strait of Magellan. Spain claimed territory on both sides of the strait and founded the colony in an attempt to secure its position. But the settlement was quickly overwhelmed by its harsh environment and lack of resources.

Of the roughly 350 settlers who arrived at the colony, most died within a few years. When English navigator Thomas Cavendish passed through the area around three years after its founding, he renamed the settlement Puerto del Hambre, or “Port of Famine”, reflecting the fate of its inhabitants. Over time, the settlement faded from historical memory.

“For centuries,” Chile’s National Historical Museum said in a translated post, “the exact location of its founding remained merely a reference in historical documents.”

That changed when archaeologists began systematically investigating the site. Using high-precision geolocation systems and advanced metal-detection technology, researchers mapped the area and identified locations that warranted further excavation. One of those searches led them to the coin.

The silver “real de a ocho” was found inside the church built at the time the colony was founded. Most significantly, researchers said, it was discovered in the precise location described by Sarmiento de Gamboa in his historical account.

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According to a joint statement by Chile’s Center for Historical Studies and Humanities and the Austral University of Chile, the coin was found “resting upon the surface of a stone” inside the small church, matching the position recorded by Sarmiento.

Minted in Potosi, in present-day Bolivia, the silver coin carries a Jerusalem cross on one side and the coat of arms of King Philip II on the other. The coin was part of a currency system that circulated widely across Europe, the Americas and Asia, making it one of the early truly global currencies.

Sarmiento had documented the placement of the coin during the colony’s founding. His writings had previously helped researchers locate two oversized bronze belts at the settlement in 2019. The discovery of the ceremonial coin has now provided further archaeological evidence supporting the accuracy of his account.

Researchers say the find could also help unlock more of the settlement’s history. The site contains traces of other structures, including houses and storage areas, some of which are depicted on a surviving 16th-century map.

“This discovery provides a rare and powerful point of convergence between written sources and archaeological evidence,” Soledad Gonzalez Diaz, lead researcher on the project and historian at Bernardo O’Higgins University in Santiago, told Live Science.

She said the discovery could help confirm the location and layout of key structures while opening new possibilities for reconstructing how the settlement was organised.