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A collection of about 870 gold and silver coins, along with personal belongings and shipboard objects, came from the wreck of the Ann Francis, an Elizabethan merchant ship lost at Margam beach in December 1583. Metal detectorist Peter Hughes recovered the assemblage over 21 years, from 1996 to 2017. The objects are now on display at Swansea’s National Waterfront Museum in the exhibition Tides of Treasure, scheduled to run until June 2027.
What was the Ann Francis shipwreck?
The Ann Francis was an Elizabethan merchant ship returning to Norfolk from Spain when it wrecked at Margam beach, near Port Talbot, in December 1583. It had carried wheat to the Iberian Peninsula and was returning with payment for that shipment and other goods for trade.
The exact cause of the wreck is not known. Museum Wales suggests that a navigational error or strong southerly winds may have taken the ship into the Bristol Channel. Its owner, Francis Shaxton, initially claimed the vessel had been sailing from King’s Lynn to Hartlepool instead.
The museum dates the wreck record to 28 December 1583 under the Julian calendar, which corresponds to 7 January 1584 in the Gregorian calendar used today. That calendar difference explains why some accounts may give a January 1584 date.
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What did Peter Hughes find?
Peter Hughes recovered the assemblage at the beach between 1996 and 2017. Museum Wales describes it as about 870 gold and silver coins, as well as personal belongings, ship’s equipment, and utensils used for cooking, eating and drinking. The objects broadly date from the late fifteenth to the sixteenth centuries.
Earlier finds from the beach—including compasses, coins and a boatswain’s whistle—helped researchers identify the wreck as the Ann Francis. The coins and everyday objects offer evidence of the ship’s cargo and the lives of people aboard; they are not, by themselves, a complete account of the voyage.
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Why the wreck has an unusually detailed history
Many shipwreck finds are interpreted mainly through surviving objects. In this case, the material evidence is supported by contemporary records, including Star Chamber proceedings concerning wreck goods and an inventory of the ship’s contents.
The inventory listed cannon and firearms, anchors, rope, sails, pieces of mast and the ship’s boat, along with spices, textiles and Spanish silver. Together, the records and recovered objects illuminate both the ship’s working equipment and the disputes that followed its loss. Amgueddfa Cymru Senior Curator for Numismatics and the Welsh Economy Alastair Willis said the records bring together accounts involving sailors, looters, lords, a smuggler and a woman accused of witchcraft.
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Where to see the Ann Francis finds
The collection is displayed in Tides of Treasure at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. Museum Wales says the exhibition is on view until June 2027; it does not specify an exact closing day. Nation.Cymru reported that the exhibition opened on 26 June 2026 and was free to visit at the time of its report. Check the museum’s current visitor information before travelling, as arrangements can change.
What to do if you find material from a shipwreck
Historic wreck material washed ashore in tidal waters must be reported to the Receiver of Wreck under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, according to Museum Wales. Its guidance says such finds belong to the Crown and that the finder is entitled to a salvage award. The Receiver of Wreck is responsible for finding an appropriate museum for the material.
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The Ann Francis wreck site has since been scheduled as a protected monument. Metal detecting or invasive archaeological investigation on a Scheduled Monument without Cadw consent is an offence. Cadw also says wreck material found on shore or at sea must be reported to the Receiver of Wreck. Do not search this protected site or disturb potential archaeological material; report a discovery to the appropriate authorities.
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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →This reporting requirement is distinct from Wales’s Treasure process. Museum Wales explains that coroners make Treasure decisions in Wales, with museum archaeology curators advising them, under a process linked to the Treasure Act 1996. The museum discusses the Ann Francis assemblage as historic wreck material; that does not establish that it was adjudicated as Treasure under that process.
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How the Ann Francis find fits into Welsh archaeology
Museum Wales reports that between 60 and 80 Treasure cases are found and reported in Wales each year, and that around 850 Treasure finds have been made in Wales since 1997, mostly by metal detectorists. These are Wales-wide figures, not counts from the Ann Francis wreck.
The significance of Hughes’s discovery is not simply the number of coins. The finds preserve evidence of trade and life aboard an Elizabethan vessel, while the written record helps explain the wreck’s aftermath. The public exhibition brings both kinds of evidence together in a single, unusually well-documented story.
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