El Cazador (ship)
El Cazador ("The Hunter") was the name of a Spanish warship ( brig ) thatsailedfrom Veracruz ( Mexico )on January 11, 1784with 19 tons of Spanish real silver coins to New Orleans , the then capital of the Spanish colony of Louisiana .
The money should serve to stabilize the economic situation in the colony. However, the ship sank off the coast of Louisiana for reasons unknown. The economic situation deteriorated so that Spain was forced to sell the colony to France in 1800 .
In 1993 fishermen found the wreck.
One design detail of these silver coins was a source of the dollar sign ($) design.
source
- Mint, the philately journal of the Deutsche Post . 3/2011, page 17