Nearly three decades after divers discovered hundreds of Moroccan gold coins off the Devon coast, researchers have identified the wreck as the Dutch merchant ship Dom van Keulen, shedding new light on seventeenth-century trade between North Africa and northern Europe.
Gold coins and recovered jewellery from the Dom van Keulen wreck site.
For more than 30 years, one of Britain’s most enigmatic shipwrecks has challenged maritime archaeologists. Since its discovery off Salcombe, Devon, in 1995, the site has yielded more than 400 Moroccan gold coins, jewellery, ceramics, pewter objects and other artefacts, but the identity of the vessel remained uncertain.
Now an international team of researchers has identified the wreck as the Dom van Keulen, a Dutch merchant ship that sank during a storm in 1633 while sailing from Morocco to the Netherlands. The findings are published in a new British Museum volume, From Morocco to the Coast of England: The Story of the Dom van Keulen and its Remarkable Cargo.
A decades-long mystery
The wreck was discovered by divers from the South West Maritime Archaeology Group (SWMAG), who located a debris field approximately 30m long at a depth of about 18m. Cannons, anchors and scattered cargo lay among the remains, together with an extraordinary collection of gold coins minted during Morocco’s Sa’dian dynasty.
The unusual nature of the finds at first led to several competing theories about the vessel’s identity. Some researchers even suggested it could have belonged to Barbary corsairs operating from North Africa.
The breakthrough happened when historian Ian Friel examined records preserved in the UK’s National Archives. Contemporary documents describe the Dutch merchant vessel Dom van Keulen leaving Safi, Morocco, in the autumn of 1633, before it encountered severe storms in the English Channel. After developing a serious leak, the ship eventually foundered near Salcombe. Contemporary accounts indicate that the crew survived the disaster.
Cargo from a global trading network
Historical records reveal that the vessel carried a valuable commercial cargo, including around 9,000 Barbary ducats and other Moroccan gold coins, 150 bags of gum arabic, 64 bags of saltpetre and 320 goat skins.
Although much of the cargo appears to have been salvaged shortly after the wreck, hundreds of gold coins remained buried on the seabed for more than 360 years before being recovered by divers.
The discovery provides rare archaeological evidence of the flourishing commercial links connecting Morocco, West Africa, the Dutch Republic and England during the seventeenth century. Dutch merchants actively traded manufactured goods for high-purity West African gold arriving through Moroccan ports, with much of the imported gold subsequently melted down and re-minted into Dutch coinage used throughout international commerce.
More than a treasure story
While the spectacular gold coins first attracted public attention, researchers say the wreck’s greatest importance lies in the insight it provides into early modern maritime trade.
Recovered artefacts include gold jewellery, Dutch ceramics, pewter tableware, a fish-shaped sounding weight, a stamp seal and a gold finger nugget, many of which are now housed in the British Museum. Together with the documentary evidence, they allow archaeologists to reconstruct the ship’s final voyage and place it within the wider economic and political environment of seventeenth-century Europe and North Africa.
The research also illustrates the value of combining underwater archaeology with archival investigation. It was only by bringing together evidence from the wreck site, museum collections and historical shipping records that researchers were able to confidently identify the vessel after nearly three decades.
An internationally significant wreck
Although little is known about the appearance of the Dom van Keulen, the wreck remains an important archaeological site. Cannons, anchors and sections of the cargo still lie on the seabed off Devon, preserving evidence of a trading voyage that connected Morocco, England and the Dutch Republic during the height of Europe’s maritime expansion.
Rather than simply revealing the fate of a lost merchant ship, the identification of the Dom van Keulen provides a concrete connection to the global trading networks which shaped the seventeenth century. It also demonstrates how archaeological discoveries made by recreational divers can continue to generate important archaeological insights decades after the initial find.
