Metal detectorist Peter Hughes recovered about 870 gold and silver coins, along with personal belongings and shipboard equipment, from the wreck of the Ann Francis at Margam beach in Wales. His discoveries came over a 21-year period, from 1996 to 2017. The Elizabethan merchant ship was lost in December 1583; the find is now on display at Swansea’s National Waterfront Museum 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 date recorded for the wreck, 28 December 1583, is Julian calendar dating; in the Gregorian calendar used today, that corresponds to 7 January 1584.
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The ship’s route and the reason it ended up in the Bristol Channel are not certain. Museum Wales says the owner, Francis Shaxton, initially claimed the ship had been travelling from King’s Lynn to Hartlepool. The museum suggests a navigational mistake or strong southerly winds may have pushed it into the channel, but neither explanation is established as the definite cause.
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What did Peter Hughes find?
Between 1996 and 2017, Hughes discovered an assemblage the museum describes as about 870 gold and silver coins, as well as objects linked to the ship and the people aboard. The finds include personal belongings, ship’s equipment, and cooking, eating, and drinking utensils. The objects broadly date from the late fifteenth to sixteenth centuries.
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The coins and everyday objects offer physical evidence of trade and life aboard an Elizabethan vessel. Earlier discoveries on the beach—including compasses, coins, and a boatswain’s whistle—had helped researchers identify the wreck as the Ann Francis. The museum does not give a verified monetary valuation for the coins, and the approximate count should not be read as an exact total.
Why historical records make the find especially significant
The objects are accompanied by unusually rich documentary evidence. Star Chamber proceedings concerning goods from the wreck and a related inventory record cargo and ship fittings including cannon, firearms, anchors, rope, sails, pieces of the mast, the ship’s boat, spices, textiles, and Spanish silver.
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That written record adds a different kind of evidence from the objects themselves: it documents the wreck’s aftermath and the people and disputes connected to the goods. Alastair Willis, Senior Curator for Numismatics and the Welsh Economy at Amgueddfa Cymru, said the collection is backed by records that bring together “stories of sailors, looters, lords, a smuggler and even a woman accused of witchcraft.”
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The collection is on display in Tides of Treasure at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea until June 2027. Museum Wales says it is on display through that month but does not specify an exact closing day. The exhibition opened on 26 June 2026, and Nation.Cymru reported that admission was free at the time; check the museum’s current visitor information before travelling, since arrangements can change.
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Nicole Deufel, Head of the National Waterfront Museum, described the presentation as the collection’s first public display. The exhibition places the coins and artefacts alongside the story of the vessel and the records that help explain its loss and the later handling of its cargo.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.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. Museum Wales says such finds belong to the Crown, with the finder entitled to a salvage award; the Receiver is responsible for finding an appropriate museum for the material.
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The Ann Francis wreck site is also a Scheduled Monument. Metal detecting or invasive archaeological investigation at a Scheduled Monument without Cadw consent is an offence. The discovery is not an invitation to search the site. Cadw’s general guidance likewise says wreck material found on shore or at sea must be reported to the Receiver of Wreck.
Wales-wide Treasure statistics are separate from the Ann Francis assemblage: Museum Wales says 60 to 80 Treasure cases are found and reported in Wales each year, and around 850 Treasure finds have been made there since 1997, mostly by metal detectorists. In Wales, coroners make Treasure decisions with advice from museum archaeology curators under the Treasure Act 1996. The museum discusses the Ann Francis material as historic wreck material; it does not establish that this assemblage was adjudicated as Treasure under that process.
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Sources
- Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales: The Ann Francis shipwreck and its finds
- Cadw: Scheduled Monuments guidance
- Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales: Treasure in Wales
- Nation.Cymru: Coverage of the Tides of Treasure exhibition
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