Atocha, sunk in 1622 west of Key West, Florida Arguably the most famous of all Spanish galleons salvaged in our time, the Atocha was the almiranta of the 1622 Fleet, which left Havana several weeks late and soon ran into a hurricane. Eight ships of the 28-ship fleet were lost, wrecked on the reefs between the Dry Tortugas and the Florida Keys or sunk in deeper water (see Santa Margarita and the 'Dry Tortugas wreck' below). Five people survived the sinking of the Atocha and were saved by another vessel, but the wreck itself was scattered after another hurricane hit the site exactly one month later, so the Spanish were never able to salvage what was one of the richest galleons ever to sail. The cargo of the Atocha did not see light again until 1971 when the first coins were found by the now-famous salvager Mel Fisher and his divers, who recovered the bulk of the treasure in 1985 and thereby unleashed the largest supply of silver cobs and ingots the market has ever seen. Well over 100,000 shield-type cobs were found in all denominations above the half real, the great majority of them from Potosí, as were also the approximately 1,000 silver ingots (most the size of bread loaves). A handful of gold cobs (1 and 2 escudos only) were also recovered, mostly from mainland Spanish mints but also a few from Colombia—officially the first gold coins ever struck in the New World. The Atocha was also the source for most (if not all) of the first silver cobs struck in Colombia, as well as a few early coins from Mexico, Lima and Spain, and even Panama. Even more significant were the many gold ingots, jewelry items, emeralds and other artifacts. Because of Mel Fisher's huge publicity, and because much of the treasure was distributed to investors at high ratios compared to their investment amounts, the coins from the Atocha have always sold for much more—anywhere from two times to ten times—than their non-salvage counterparts, even in the numismatic market. (The 'glamour market' in tourist areas, by contrast, elevates these coins to as much as twenty times their base numismatic value!) Individually numbered certificates with photos of each coin are critical to the retention of an Atocha coin's higher value. Accompanying barcode-tags with the coins also make it possible to replace lost certificates through a database system at the Fisher operations in Key West. Each certificate (with some exceptions) also specifies the coin's Grade, from 1 (highest) to 4 (lowest), a highly subjective evaluation of corrosive damage and overall quality. Most Atocha silver coins are also recognizable by their shiny brightness, the result of a controversial cleaning and polishing process catering more to jewelry demand than to serious numismatists. For related items visit our Fixed-Price Catalog |
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Get the best deals on Atocha Shipwreck Coin In Spain Coins when you shop the largest online selection at eBay.com. Free shipping on many items Browse your favorite brands affordable prices. Our first two projects are continuing our search and recovery of the remaining treasure from the Atocha and Santa Margarita. These treasure Galleons were part of a Spanish fleet that sank during a hurricane in 1622, off the coast of Key West. Our third project is a deep water shipwreck, code named 'Lost Merchant'. On October 5th a second hurricane came through, and further destroyed the wreck of the Atocha. For the next 60 years, Spanish salvagers searched for the galleon, but they never found a trace. In 1969, Mel Fisher and his Treasure Salvors crew began a sixteen year quest for the treasure of the Atocha. For the Atocha, one of the most significant occurred in 1942 when a French naval lieutenant named Jacques-Ives Cousteau developed the self-contained underwater breathing apparatus, or SCUBA for short. It allowed divers to remain underwater for extended periods of time. Atocha was the almiranta (rear guard ship) of the 1622 Treasure Fleet, which left Havana several weeks late, causing them to run into the jaws of a hurricane on September 6, 1622. Eight ships of the 28-ship fleet were lost, wrecked on the reefs between the Dry Tortugas and present day Key West.
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Atocha Shipwreck Location Map
Nuestra Senora de Atocha
See Atocha History
The Santa Margarita
Atocha Shipwreck
The sister ship of the Atocha, the Santa Margarita was part of the 1622 Tierra Firme that left Havana, Cuba on its way back to Spain on September 4, 1622 during the height of hurricane season. The fleet did not make it far before encountering a hurricane which eventually hurled parts of the fleet, the Atocha and Margarita included, north toward the Florida reefs. Most of the fleet made it to the deep waters of the gulf, while some ships were flung directly unto the reef and sank. The Margarita was found by Mel Fisher in the 1980s about 10 miles west of Key West, Florida.
Atocha Shipwreck Location Map
Nuestra Senora de Atocha
See Atocha History
The Santa Margarita
Atocha Shipwreck
The sister ship of the Atocha, the Santa Margarita was part of the 1622 Tierra Firme that left Havana, Cuba on its way back to Spain on September 4, 1622 during the height of hurricane season. The fleet did not make it far before encountering a hurricane which eventually hurled parts of the fleet, the Atocha and Margarita included, north toward the Florida reefs. Most of the fleet made it to the deep waters of the gulf, while some ships were flung directly unto the reef and sank. The Margarita was found by Mel Fisher in the 1980s about 10 miles west of Key West, Florida.
1715 Fleet
The 1715 Fleet was a Spanish treasure fleet returning to Spain from the Americas. On July 31, 1715, seven days after leaving Havana, Cuba, the fleet encountered a hurricane off present-day Vero Beach, Florida. Eleven of the twelve ships were lost and approximately 1000 sailors perished in the storm. Some coins and artifacts still wash up on the beaches in Florida from this fleet, also known as the 1715 Plate Fleet (plata being the Spanish word for silver).
La Consolacion
The Consolacion was attacked off the Coast of Ecuador at a place known as the Isla de Muerto, the Island of Death, in 1681. It was heavily loaded with treasure which was being sailed up from Peru to Panama, and from there to be sent back to Spain. There were 345 people on board the Consolacion when it was attacked. The passengers and crew attempted to escape the Pirates, but to no avail. In an attempt to save the treasure, they decided to scuttle the ship. Upon seeing this, the pirates became so enraged that they slaughtered all 345 of the ships people. An attempt to salvage was made at the time, but very little was recovered by the pirates.
El Cazador
The El Cazador, the ship that changed American history, left Vera Cruz, Mexico on January 11, 1784, with 450,000 pesos in silver on its way to New Orleans to bolster the failing economy in what was then the Spanish colony of Louisiana. When it sank off the coast of Louisiana in 1784 the economy continued to slide which forced Spain to sell the territory to Napoléon of France. When Napoléon had similar economic problems, and he sold the Louisiana Territory to Thomas Jefferson and the United States in 1803 doubling the size of the country overnight. If this ship had made it to New Orleans to stabilize the colony's economy, the whole area west of the Mississippi might still belong to Spain. Bodog live casino.
