Although escudos from the Loosdrecht have been circulating on the market for decades now, relatively little is known about the shipwreck of this Dutch East Indiaman that sank off the English coast in 1719. For this reason, Wreck Treasure has contacted Martin Woodward, the current salvor who has spent thousands of hours at the Loosdrecht wreck site, to delve into the history of this Dutch East Indiaman. This story will uncover new details about the long-forgotten shipwreck.

The history of the Loosdrecht begins in 1714 when it was built by the chamber of Amsterdam of the Dutch East India Company. This vessel was constructed for long-distance trade voyages to Asia. During its service, the Loosdrecht successfully completed two round-trip voyages to the former Dutch colony of Ceylon, currently known as Sri Lanka. On January 14, 1719, the ship departed from the Island of Texel on its third outbound voyage under the command of Captain Willem Dekker. Tragically, just a couple of days later, on January 21, 1719, the Loosdrecht ran aground on the Isle of Wight and sank. There is, unfortunately, not much information available about the wrecking itself and what happened to the crew, despite extensive archival research and consultations with museums.