Ammon News - More than three centuries after a legendary Spanish galleon loaded with treasure sank off the coast of Colombia, researches have uncovered new details about gold coins found scattered around the shipwreck.

Dubbed the "holy grail" of shipwrecks, the San Jose galleon was sunk by the British navy near Cartagena in 1708, killing most of the roughly 600 crewmembers on board. The ship was believed to be holding gold, silver, gemstones and other treasure worth billions of dollars.

Now researchers have analyzed intricately designed gold coins found near the wreck, confirming they are indeed from the iconic San Jose. The coins feature depictions of castles, lions and crosses on the front and the "Crowned Pillars of Hercules" above ocean waves on the back, according to a new study published Tuesday in the journal Antiquity.

Researchers, including experts from Colombia's navy, studied images taken by remotely operated vehicles of dozens of coins that are scattered around the shipwreck nearly 2,000 feet below the ocean's surface. The study's authors said the exact number of coins on the seabed is difficult to determine "due to the dynamic nature of the site." But an analysis of high-resolution images from the remotely operated vehicles shows each coin's average diameter is 32.5 millimeters and weighs roughly 27 grams.

On some of the coins, researchers were able to discern the letters "PVA" — representing a Latin motto meaning "Plus Ultra" or "Further Beyond." That adage was used on currency to signify the expansion of the Spanish monarchy in the Atlantic, the study's authors said. Numbers depicting the coins' denomination and the date of minting (1707) could also be seen.

The study's authors said the coins from this period were often cut from gold or silver ingots.

"Hand-struck, irregularly shaped coins — known as cobs in English and macuquinas in Spanish — served as the primary currency in the Americas for more than two centuries," the authors said in a statement. CBS