SOLD Atocha Shipwreck 8 Reales Pendant. Please Explore Our Spanish Shipwreck Pendants For Similar Items.

Description:

This coin also comes with Mel Fisher's Treasure Salvors Atocha photo certificate #94A-7042.
This is a genuine Spanish silver coin recovered from the Atocha shipwreck, which sank approximately 35 miles west of Key West, Florida. The Nuestra Senora de Atocha was a newly built 110’ Spanish Galleon in 1622. As the Amaranth, the Atocha was designated to bring up the rear of the Tierra Firme Treasure fleet. The treasure arriving by mule to Panama City was so immense that summer in 1622, that it took 2 months to record and load the precious cargo on the Atocha. That delayed the treasure fleets return voyage to Spain well into hurricane season.
On the return to Spain on September 6th, the Atocha along with 4 other ships, was caught in a violent hurricane and was smashed into a reef off of the Florida Keys. She sank quickly and only 5 passengers and crew out of 265 survived. Initial salvage attempts by the Spanish proved futile when a second hurricane devastated the wreck site. Time erased most records of the Atocha until Mel Fisher’s Treasure Salvors Inc. discovered the vast sunken treasure on July 20, 1985. To this day, items from the immense Atocha treasure are still being recovered by divers.