Rare Spanish coins found in shipwreck
JUPITER, Fla., June 29 (UPI) -- A team of Florida "treasure finders" said they found more than 50 Spanish colonial coins in the wreckage of a 17th century ship.
The Jupiter-based crew of the Seahunter said they found the coins in the wreckage of a 350-year-old ship that sank off the Jupiter Inlet, WPTV, West Palm Beach, Fla., reported Wednesday.
Scott Thomson, captain of the Seahunter, said the ship is the "San Miguel De Arcangel that wrecked in the winter of 1659/1660 and had about 100 people on board."
Thomson said his crew, whom he described as "treasure finders," has found more than 50 gold and silver coins in the wreckage during the past week.
"We found gold for the first time in the last 10 or 15 years, and we also found a 1659 Lima-2 Star that was double struck so it has two sets of the words and two sets of the pillars and it's quite a rare coin," Thomson said.
However, he said the worth of the coins does not matter to the crew.
"It's got nothing to do with money, it's about finding treasure. The treasure's not fun after you get it, it's the finding it, it's the going out there with your buddies and diving and the adventure. The sense of adventure, that's what it's all about." Thomson said.
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After a 16-year-search, Mel Fisher and his crew found the "mother lode" of the shipwreck in September 1985. They hauled up more than 40 tonnes of gold and silver, including more than 100000 Spanish silver coins known as "Pieces of Eight," along with
Thomson said his crew, whom he described as "treasure finders," has found more than 50 gold and silver coins in the wreckage during the past week. "We found gold for the first time in the last 10 or 15 years, and we also found a 1659 Lima-2 Star that
War-era shipwreck of the SS Republic(R) in 2003 and recovered over 50000 coins and 14000 artifacts from the site nearly 1700 feet deep. In May 2007, Odyssey announced the historic deep-ocean treasure recovery of over 500000 silver and gold coins,
This was a shipwreck coin from the SS Central America. In a recent article, Doug Winter mentioned that certain shipwreck coins were selling at markedly increased prices relative to their landlubber cousins. Winter noted that the greatest differential
However, if you earned (32) $20-gold pieces per year ($640 in honest gold coin), you would likely pay zero taxes, and could buy twice the quantity of goods, and your gold coin savings would hold their value for the rest of your life (plus your heirs'
NewsDaily: Florida divers find new treasure from famed wreck
Employees of Mel Fisher's Treasure, the salvage company that has worked the shipwreck site since 1969, believe the latest haul signals they are close to finding the sterncastle, a key missing portion of the ship.
"The sterncastle is where the clergy and elite were with their personal items," said Sean Fisher, spokesman for the family business and grandson of its late founder, Mel Fisher.
The Atocha was headed back to Spain with a load of gold and silver from the New World when it sank and broke up in a hurricane not far from Key West in September 1622.
After a 16-year-search, Mel Fisher and his crew found the "mother lode" of the shipwreck in September 1985. They hauled up more than 40 tonnes of gold and silver, including more than 100,000 Spanish silver coins known as "Pieces of Eight," along with Colombian emeralds and other artifacts. The company estimated its worth at nearly $500 million.
Since then, Sean Fisher said the crew has made many other discoveries within a ten-mile (16-km) spread of the original site, and in a straight line.
"This tells us we are moving in the right direction," he said. "We have virgin territory around our search area and will be in there next."
After the original wreck, currents and additional hurricanes moved the broken parts around. "It broke in two and then banged around for hundreds of years and that is why what we are finding is scattered," Fisher said.
RING VALUED INITIALLY AT $500,000
He was on the company's salvage ship JB Magruder on June 23 when diver Tim Meade came up with the large square emerald mounted in a gold ring, whose worth the company estimates at $500,000.
Divers also came up with two silver spoons and other artifacts that will have to be treated at the Fisher labs in Key West before being exposed to fresh air. Unlike the gold ring, the other items are encrusted and a value can't be placed on them at this time.
"I think one item is a hinge and another is a lid, so it's possibly pieces from a jewelry box," Fisher said.
He has a copy of the Atocha's manifest and going by it, he expects to find at least 100,000 coins, 400 silver bars and personal jewelry at the sterncastle location.
"We have already found more gold than is on the manifest," he said with a smile. "There was a lot of smuggling so the clergy and nobility wouldn't have to pay the king's tax. We expect there will be many items around the sterncastle that are not on the manifest.
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