ATOCHA GOLD TREASURE BAR 1622 “EN RADA” 889 gm/ 31.3 Oz from Mel Fisher 1985 Salvage w/ COA!

OFFERED AT: $500,000

HER TREASURE WAS SO ENORMOUS THAT IT TOOK 2 MONTHS TO LOAD THE GALLEON FULL (IN THE SUMMER OF 1622 IN WHAT IS NOW PANAMA CITY). SHE SET SAIL 6 WEEKS BEHIND SCHEDULE ON SEPTEMBER 4TH, 1622. ONLY TWO DAYS LATER ON THE 6TH, SHE WAS PUSHED ONTO THE CORAL REEFS BY A SEVERE HURRICANE (APPROX. 35 MILES WEST OF “KEY WEST.”) ALL BUT 3 SAILORS AND TWO SLAVES DROWNED QUICKLY AS HER HULL WAS RIPPED APART BADLY.


FINALLY, AFTER 16.5 YEARS OF SEARCHING SHE WAS FINALLY DISCOVERED IN 1985 BY MEL FISHER (TREASURE SALVORS), PRODUCING HER GOLD AND RARE MUZO EMERALDS. MOST OF THE GOLD AND SILVER COINS WERE MINTED BETWEEN 1598 TO 1621 (THERE WERE ALSO EARLIER DATES, EVEN AS FAR BACK AS THE EARLY 1500’S ON BOARD). TREASURE IS STILL BEING BROUGHT UP TO THIS DAY. RECENTLY, IN JUNE 2011 AN EMERALD AND GOLD RING WAS BROUGHT UP BY TREASURE DIVERS FROM MEL FISHER’S CREW THAT WAS VALUED AT OVER $500,000 (35 MILES FROM KEY WEST).

Three large silver bars, two small gold "finger" bars and one gold disc that went down with the Atocha will be featured in Freeman's Jan. 25 Fine English & Continental Furniture & Decorative Arts sale. (Items from the sale are on view at the auction house's Philadelphia headquarters starting Friday).

In the early 1600s, the Spanish monarchy dispatched armadas regularly to stock up on gold, silver and gems from the Americas to help fund its army. The Atocha was one of several ships that fell prey to Caribbean hurricanes en route home from Cuba and sank off what would become Key West, Fla. On the Atocha, 260 people drowned and about 70 tons of treasure were lost. (The other ship, the Santa Margarita, ran aground.)
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