Mel Fisher Treasure Hunters Discover Silver, Gold Coins from 1622 Spanish Galleon Atocha

Rare Atocha Gold Coin Found, worth $98,000, even more, if it's from a rare mint

Mel Fisher’s Treasures salvage vessel J.B. Magruder with newly appointed Captain Tim Meade at the helm discovered an exceedingly rare Atocha gold coin on July 16 in just 30 feet of water.

“Congratulations to Captain Tim and the entire Magruder crew,” said Nichole Fisher.

“The coin was found by second-generation treasure finder, Engineer Zach Moore on the Nuestra de Atocha Spanish galleon shipwreck.”

The last Atocha gold coin ever recovered was in 2001, and this is the 121st Atocha gold coin ever found on the Atocha site to date. Today’s value is estimated to be at least $98,000, even more, if it’s from a rare mint.

On July 24, 1715, a fleet of 11 Spanish Galleons and one French ship, set sail from Havana, Cuba to Spain. All of the Spanish vessels perished in a storm off the east coast of Florida, near present-day Sebastian. Seven hundred lives and over 14,000,000 pesos worth of treasure went down.

Another ship, the Atocha, met a similar fate in 1622. On July 20, 1985, following a 16-year search, a salvage team led by Mel Fisher recovered the mother lode of the Atocha, from its nearly 370-year exile on the ocean floor…establishing the greatest discovery in treasure salvaging history, both in archaeological and commercial terms.

During the search for the Atocha, Fisher and his crew also discovered and raised treasure from the sister ship of the Atocha, The Santa Margarita and an English merchant slave ship, the Henrietta Marie, as well as the 1715 Fleet near Sebastian.

Moore joined the Mel Fisher crew a few years ago and is from Vero Beach. He previously worked as a treasure hunter on the 1715 fleet.

One of his other exciting discoveries on the 1715 fleet was an “EO” (encrusted object) that he and his dad conserved together. It turned out to be a very rare silver pendant and a rosary with a still intact figure of Christ.

Zach’s father William (Bill) Moore was part of the crew that discovered and recovered the motherload of the Atocha in 1985. During one dive Bill and the other divers found 165 pounds of gold finger bars, chains, and discs.

His mother Julie Moore was also a diver on the Atocha site during the motherload find and was part of many amazing finds as well. Bill also worked as the Chief Conservator on the 1715 Fleet Operation at Mel Fisher’s Treasure Museum in Sebastian, Florida for many years.

Diver Jacob Bell found his first piece of eight and another piece of eight was recovered by one of the investors. Several other artifacts were also recovered. Mel Fisher’s Treasures team continues to hunt for the remaining Atocha and Margarita treasures.

As Mel Fisher would say “Today’s the day!”

“This new gold coin discovery comes just a few days before the 36th anniversary of the 1985 Atocha Motherload discovery and our annual ‘Mel Fisher Days‘ celebration fundraiser benefiting Wesley House Family Services and Michael Abt Jr. Have a Heart Foundation,” said Nichole Fisher.

This year on Tuesday, July 20 there will be a diver reunion party at the Schooner Wharf and a huge online silent auction.

For more information, visit MelFisherdays.com

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