Atocha treasure

maxalmon

maxalmon

Active Member
I've been totally fascinated with the Nuestra Senora de Atocha ship wreck which sank off the Florida keys on September 6th 1622, I can remember when the new report flashed that the mother load of all treasure ships had been found, this was in 1985. I've read every book, watched every Discovery show etc...
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Heres my little piece of the Atocha treasure, I purchased this several years ago.
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4 Reales, If it were a 8 reales then you would have a "piece of eight'
Minted in Potosi
Assay date is 1613-1616
Weight is 12.3g
Grade 1

 
maxalmon

maxalmon

Active Member
Originally Posted by reefkprZ
that is cool, I'm not even going to ask the price tag on that....
yes I am, how much?
LOL.... Lets just say that every single piece of aquarium equipment, all my tanks, all my corals and I do mean everything all combined would cost less than my Atocha coin.
 
maxalmon

maxalmon

Active Member
Scary thing is that there is an actual "Mel Fisher - Atocha" treasure store just a short drive from my house. It's so cool to go in and look at all the real treasure they brought up and I can always upgrade my coin to another one if I see one I like better (trade in), I just gotta fork over the extra cash. Whats really cool are the gold bars, but they are like 30-50k. I would like to get one of the ultra rare gold coins, but they are scarce and stupidly expensive.
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
Originally Posted by maxalmon
LOL.... Lets just say that every single piece of aquarium equipment, all my tanks, all my corals and I do mean everything all combined would cost less than my Atocha coin.

Thats what I thought. cheap at twice the price IMO that is a piece of history.
Kind of like my antique japanese table. they dont make them anymore you cant buy them anywhere, I paid More than I could ever sell it for but its a hand made japanese table thats older than dirt by at least a week. the family that ate at that table was probably poor, and to them riches meant nothing and honor was everything. (my table, my fantasy
) its only worth about 1500 but I paid 2g because they didnt want to sell.
cheap at twice the price.
 
maxalmon

maxalmon

Active Member
I totally get what your saying, sometimes I kinda just hold it in my hand and try and imagine what the last person was like who held it before it went into the treasure chest, then I try and imagine all the people who came into contact with, totally mind boggling, almost 400 years old, a piece of history for sure..
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I'm the same way with good, old furniture, they just don't make it like they used too, all this crappy MDF and painted pine. I'd rather spend 2-3 times as much for a single piece of good furniture than a whole house of OK furniture. Kinda like you, I spent way too much on an inlaid mantle clock, but the woodwork is simply amazing
 
adairable

adairable

Member
That is one of the coolest things ever. I am intersted in your answer to jennys question. Tell us about your fascination!!!
 
mike22cha

mike22cha

Active Member
I believe it was a storm wasn't it that made the ships sink? I think I heard that somewhere, but I'm not for sure. I know it wasn't pirates, because I remember watching the history channel on them and they became pirates for looting the ship wrecked treasure ships. Am I right? That is soo cool though maxalom.
 
earlybird

earlybird

Active Member
Very cool.
"For the 1622 return voyage, Atocha was loaded with a cargo that is, today, almost beyond belief -- 24 tons of silver bullion in 1038 ingots, 180,00 pesos of silver coins, 582 copper ingots, 125 gold bars and discs, 350 chests of indigo, 525 bales of tobacco, 20 bronze cannon and 1,200 pounds of worked silverware! To this can be added items being smuggled to avoid taxation, and unregistered jewelry and personal goods; all creating a treasure that could surely rival any other ever amassed.
 
mike22cha

mike22cha

Active Member
I guess I may be wrong since it seems that the treasure wasn't taken. Maybe another treasure fleet crashed by Florida. I went to www.melfisher.com and looked at some of the coins, and WOW! Man I don't know, I could get a car for some of them. But if I had a couple grand laying around, it would be a cool thing to own.
 
reckler

reckler

Member
I bought my wifa a piece of eight from the Atocha down in Key west back in 01. It cost me about $400.00 dollars for the coin. it came with the certificate and what year they found it. The museum is awsome to go through especially if you are a big Atocha fan like we are.
her coin grade is one below fine.
 
isistius

isistius

Active Member
max- if you ever get down to the keys, you have to go to the mel fisher museum in key west. i haven't been there in several years, but i remember it being great.
 
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