Admiral Gardner

English East Indiamen

LOST January 24th 1809

Wrecked on the Goodwin Sands along with the Brittania and Carnatic

46 Tons of copper coins from the Soho mint

The 11-year old Admiral Gardner was an East Indiamen, a tall Ship, that made the perilous journey between England and India during the 18th and 19th centuries. 145 feet in length, she was captained by William J. Eastfield, a man who had already made the journey to and from many times. In January 1809 he set sail from Deptford, on the River Thames, only to be wrecked off the coast of Kent on the Goodwin Sands a few hours later.

A large part of his cargo consisted of coins to be used by the British East India Company. Mostly copper 10 cash coins bearing the symbol X on the reverse.  Lesser amounts of the larger XX cash coins were also aboard. The coins were minted at the Soho mint in Birmingham, England. The copper for these coins in 1808 came from the Rose Copper Co. in Cornwall. They were selected because their copper deposits contained significant amounts of silver.

    Consequently each of the coins contains some silver giving them their rare lustrous color.