It would take over 400 years to excavate all of the wrecked ships currently unclaimed on the oceans floors. Silver Bars, bricks of copper, gold coins & gem of all sorts are just a few of the objects sitting in our ocean waiting to be discovered. As a scuba diver I've always been fascinated with treasure hunting and recently I had the chance to visit the Florida Keys where I checked out Mel Fishers Maritime Museum. Mel's an American Treasure hunter who's best know for discovering the 1622 wreck of the Spanish Galleon Nuestra Senora Atocha (Atocha for short). He discovered the wreck in 1985 which contained an estimated 450 million worth of treasure, the Motherlode to say the least. I had a chance to photograph some of this amazing find, what spectacular collections.
The Atocha carried nearly 100 wooden chests each filled with about 2000 coins. The chests weighed collectively over 7000 pounds. If you.ve got the cash you can buy one of these precious artifacts, prices start at approximately 100.00 and increase from there depending on the size and quality of the piece .
The ships manifest lists the coins in 97 separate accounts and documents their owners. The single largest shipment totals over 21,000 coins, while the smallest totaled only 4 coins.
Silver Ingots - The Atocha carried 1,038 silver ingots, each weighing approximately 70 pounds, with a collective weight of over 34 tons. I myself would be happy to own just one.
The Emerald Cross - The emerald cross along with an emerald ring were found in a pewter box. Although the crosses providence is not know, there is speculation that it was to be a gift for Pope Gregory XV. The pewter box includes the initials "ABL". Pope Gregory's given name was Alessandro Boncompagni Ludovisi.
A Salver - Also recovered from the wreck, by 1600 a salver, or serving platter was a common part of tableware. This salver is far from common as it is made of pure gold and etched with intricate patterns hand chiseled by artisans.
Gold Bullion - The Ingots are marked with a variety of stamps, including the circular tax stamp, mintmarks, Roman numerals to signify its purity and Arabic numerals denoting it's weight. According to the manifest the Atocha was carrying 125 gold ingots, discs and bits. Over 220 ingots have been discovered thus far, suggesting that at least 60 pieces were contraband. Smuggled ingots bear no tax stamp.
Not just gold and silver buried in them there sands that's for sure. An extensive assortment for beautifully preserved items have also been brought up, including pots, pans, cutlery, earthenware, cannon balls, and a nice collection of emeralds, again not listed in the manifest.
Lets hear it for Mel Fisher and his team of dedicated divers who discover this amazing wreck, without whom these treasures might have been lost forever.
