Historic Shipwreck Coin Researcher and Curation Expert:

Though on the surface it may look like a complete 360 from my other work, my clients in the historic shipwreck industry appreciate that I can both design a fastidious curation protocol for recovered shipwreck cargoes, as well as photograph, document, and publicize it.

 

Since the 1990s, I've worked with shipwreck projects in the Caribbean, South and Central America, the U.S., the Pacific and Africa, in capacities including coin expert, photographer, project planner, researcher/writer, business plan writer, publicist, and archaeological search and recovery diver. My particular proficiency in the historic shipwreck industry is as a Spanish Colonial coin expert, experienced with designing coin databases and customizing them for the project at hand. I've worked with the treasure coins of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha and the Santa Margarita for about three decades and am considered a leading authority on their features and characteristics.

 

Some examples of my work with shipwreck recovered coin collections include grading and certifying more than 14,000 coins from the Isla del Muerto shipwreck off of Ecuador for the company Robcar, S.A.; advising the government of the Republic of Mozambique, Africa, regarding a division of treasures requiring a neutral expert; consulting for Odyssey Marine Exploration regarding the coins of the "Black Swan" shipwreck; consulting for Odyssey Marine Exploration and Arqueonautas Worldwide for the coins of the 1622 Portuguese carrack Sao Jose, and curating and certifying thousands of coins recovered from Panama's 1631 shipwreck San Jose.

​

I'm honored and proud to be a member of The Explorers Club and a founding member of the International Conventions of Historians and Numismatists. Launched in Potosi, Bolivia in 2016, I serve as the ICHN organization's Vice President for the United States, with presentations given at Potosi 2016, Arequipa 2018, NUMISCOL 2019, and Cartagena 2021.

​

​