Original Atocha Shipwreck silver coin 8 Reale Potosi Mint grade 3 unmounted. Complete with the original Treasure Salvors Inc., signed by Mel Fisher.
Grade 2-3 dictates that the coin was retrieved from the middle of the pack in the wreckage with less corrosion compared to Grade 3 or 4. Grade 1 coins are of the finest quality with minimal corrosion. The Potosi Mint signifies that the coin was minted in northern Peru, modern-day Bolivia.
An 8 Reales silver coin was approximately equivalent to one month’s pay for a sailor in the 1600’s.
Atocha Coin
- Coin #: 85A-145346
- Grade: Grade 3
- Denomination: 8 Reale
- Reign: King Philip III of Spain
- Mint: Potosi (Northern Peru, Bolivia)
- Assayer: Not Visible
- Weight: 24.20 Grams
- Date: Not Visible
- Origin: BK 0011
- Coin Metal: Silver
- Bezel Metal: Proprietary, non-tarnishing sterling silver
- Front-Side: Greek Cross
- Reverse-Side: The shield of King Philip III of Spain
In Person Observation:
- The Coin has a thin planchet and lighter color character. The obverse has superb visibility. Akin obverse visibility to a grade 1. The reverse bears a visible Mint stike with fading on the exterior and general corrosion of a grade 3. If you plan to make this a pendant, you can display the obverse which has great markings.
Atocha History:
On September 6th, 1622, a ship named "Nuestra Señora de Atocha" (Our Woman of Spring) from the Kingdom of Spain bearing gold, gems, and other valuables to The New World capsized off the coast of Key West in Florida, sinking the treasure for hundreds of years.
This all changed in 1969 when a team of scuba divers led by American treasure hunter Mel Fisher began searching the seabeds in the Florida Keys for the missing treasure. After an arduous expedition, a radio call went out from Fisher's son, Kane Fisher, who jubilantly exclaimed that the team had finally found the Spanish treasure.
Amid the priceless discovery, the State of Florida's government claimed title to the shipwreck, thus commencing a legal battle that would last eight years. On 1 July 1982, the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of Fisher's team and awarded it the rights to the entirety of the shipwrecked treasure.
In 2014, Nuestra Señora de Atocha was added to the Guinness Book of World Records for being the most valuable shipwreck to be recovered, as it was carrying roughly 40 tons of gold and silver and 71 lb worth of Colombian emeralds, among other artifacts.
