On 20 November 1942, the British passenger liner SS Tilawa departed Bombay (now Mumbai) bound for Durban, carrying 732 passengers, 222 crew, four gunners, and over 6,000 tonnes of cargo, including 75 tonnes of pure silver bars from the Bombay Mint — destined for the South African Mint to support the wartime economy.

Three days later, on 23 November 1942, tragedy struck. A Japanese submarine torpedoed the unarmed ship 930 miles northeast of the Seychelles, sinking it within minutes. 280 lives were lost, including women and children. The wreck and its treasure would remain hidden 6,000 feet beneath the waves for the next 75 years.

In 2017, a team from Argentum Exploration Ltd located and salvaged the Tilawa’s silver cargo using cutting-edge deep-sea recovery technology. Now, that same silver — once scattered across the ocean floor — has been refined and struck into the 2025 Silver Krugerrand, bearing a distinctive SS Tilawa privy mark to commemorate its extraordinary journey from shipwreck to showcase.