Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 1628: Chapter 1612: Royal Currency

Huo Sining wasn’t interested in dealing with trivial matters. Her entire focus was on those dozen or so ancient paintings suspected to be by Picasso. After the group returned to the hotel that Gu Xu had booked, Huo Sining couldn’t wait and immediately took a batch of photos with a camera. Then Bai Yishan sent the photos via email to her teacher.

However, waiting for a reply turned out to be a long process. Bai Yishan also had no idea when her teacher would get back to her, so Huo Sining, feeling bored, took out the four coins again.

She hadn’t paid much attention to these coins either, so she casually snapped a few photos and then tagged Ouyang Jun and Su Jinyuan on Weibo, posting a message in a teasing tone:

”Just took a stroll by the Dover Sea and picked up a few of these. Anyone interested?”

There were a few nose-picking emojis following the Weibo text.

Ouyang Jun and Su Jinyuan were both aware that they had come to Europe, but due to being tied up with company affairs, they could only look on with envy.

Huo Sining posted this picture with the intention to tantalize Ouyang Jun and the others.

However, what Huo Sining didn’t expect was that shortly after her Weibo post, she received a phone call from someone:

”Is the picture you posted on Weibo real?”

The caller wasn’t Ouyang Jun or Su Jinyuan but her senior brother Ji Kun.

Huo Sining was a bit confused by her senior brother’s question: ”What Weibo picture?”

Ji Kun asked urgently, ”Those coins, did you really find them by the Dover seaside?”

Huo Sining suddenly realized, laughingly saying: ”You saw it? Haha, how come your reaction is faster than Ouyang Jun and the others? I was just teasing them. Where can you pick up things like that by the seaside? Otherwise, everyone would be heading to the seaside for gold now, wouldn’t they?”

Hearing this, Ji Kun was speechless: ”You really have extraordinary luck. Who knows if you actually found a bargain by the seaside? I remember you once picked up ambergris by the seaside back in the country. I thought you picked up treasure again. So the photo was fake, huh? Where did you find the photo? You fooled me!”

Ji Kun assumed that since Huo Sining said she was teasing Ouyang Jun and Su Jinyuan, the photos she posted on Weibo were fake.

Huo Sining found this amusing and didn’t intend to keep it from Ji Kun, so she directly said:

”Senior brother, I mean the part about finding treasure by the seaside is fake, but the photo itself isn’t fake. I actually have the coins with me, and I just took the photo. I didn’t pick them up at the seaside; I retrieved them from the sea while sailing.”

There was sudden silence on the other end of the phone, followed by the sound of someone gasping after a long while:

”You really have enviable luck, managing to find treasure while vacationing in Dover! I’m impressed. Take good care of those coins. I reckon it won’t be long before some European guys reach out to you.”

Huo Sining was taken aback by this. She hadn’t thought much of it before, but hearing Ji Kun’s words, she suddenly realized something was amiss. If these were just ordinary coins, it definitely wouldn’t warrant such a reaction from her senior brother. So these coins must be more than just ordinary Spanish currency.

”Wait! Senior brother, don’t hang up yet!”

Huo Sining was anxious: ”No, senior brother, what’s wrong with those coins? I don’t know much about European history or the background of those coins. Why would Europeans contact me? Are those coins valuable?”

Ji Kun was immediately taken aback by her response: ”You have no idea about the background of those coins?”

Huo Sining replied: ”I don’t know. I just got back from the sea, just returned to the hotel to rest, and I can’t tell about the coins. I only know they are from the 18th or 19th century and should be Spanish currency. So, do these coins have significant implications?”

As she asked this, Huo Sining’s heart tightened involuntarily, her gaze falling on the few pure gold round coins scattered on the table.

Ji Kun was quite surprised by Huo Sining’s answer. He had always thought of her as all-knowing and unbelievably lucky, not expecting to encounter her shortcoming, and unexpectedly discovering it.

”Didn’t you lead the national team to the International Treasure Appraisal Conference? With your level, you even managed to secure a championship as the team captain, so how did you manage that?”

Shaking his head, Ji Kun teased, but he didn’t keep her in suspense and said directly: ”Just search online for Philip V, and you should find out.”

Following Ji Kun’s advice, Huo Sining entered the keywords into the search engine. Soon, the search engine was filled with information about Philip V.

This Philip V was the founder of Spain’s Bourbon Dynasty, son of France’s Louis ****, and grandson of the French King Louis XIV, holding the title of Duke of Anjou.

When the Spanish King Charles II of the Habsburg family died in 1700 without heirs, he bequeathed all his territories to Philip V. For the next forty-six years, Philip V became the first king of Spain’s Bourbon Dynasty.

However, upon ascending the throne, Philip V caused dissatisfaction within the Habsburg family, who did not recognize Philip V’s position and declared the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I’s son, Archduke Charles, as the heir to the Spanish throne.

This led to the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession, which lasted over a decade, finally winding down in 1711 when Archduke Charles became the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

According to historical records, since 1520, the Spanish King dispatched two fleets annually to transport gold and silver from the New World to the homeland, with the fleet bound for North America known as the New Spain Fleet.

After the civil war ended, Philip V faced a massive financial deficit and the heavy burden of post-war reconstruction. In 1714, Philip V decided to resume yearly dispatches of the New World fleet, transporting gold and silver back to the homeland.

A year later, the new fleet was fully assembled. Despite the hurricane season, Philip V, without regard to maritime dangers, ordered the gold-laden fleet to set sail.

Soon after, the fleet encountered a hurricane off the coast of Florida, and 11 of the 12 ships sank.

Thus, the New Spain Fleet, carrying gold and silver equivalent to at least three years’ tribute from Spanish North America, disappeared into the sea. These coins are the legendary Spanish royal currency.