Chuuck Hann-Piece of Eight from the Atocha

[waterpump7]

Chuck Hann- can you help me with a dollar amount for a piece of Eight from the Atacha sunk in 1581 and discovered by Mel Fisher. I was one of his DiveMasters before he found it and he sent me on in mint condition. Curious as to dollar amount it is worth. David [email protected]

 

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[FISHEYE]

david,
you should go to the mel fisher site,im sure they would be able to help you with your coin value.if you got a COA with it or a artifact number im sure it will be worth something.
try the link.if not contact taffy.they have a forum there you can ask questions there as well.

http://www.melfisher.com/Library/GaurOfAuth.asp

 

[PhipsFolly]

David,

The Atocha sank in 1621. As for your coin, if you can, put a few close up photos on this forum thread and I will see if I can help you out. I am friends with a professional numismatist (coin expert) and he deals in shipwreck coins... especially Atocha coins.

Phips

 

[holeintoe]

Ok you got my intrest, can you post a pic. of the coin?

 

[mad4wrecks]

I believe the original question was simply about the value of the coin. It's origin, date and authenticity have been established.

Cornelius original advice about contacting the Mel Fisher Center was the best advice. More specifically:

Morgan Perkins
[email protected]
Conservation/Curating
Melfishers Treasures

 

[FMarion2ndRegSC]

Hey Tom, love your website man. I check it out often.

 

[PhipsFolly]

Cornelius,

My response was based on the fact that the coin was given to David by Mel (possibly with a cert?) and therefore the origin was already established. I was merely offering the gentleman a contact to help him determine it current estimated fair market value.

The advice to contact the Fishers is excellent or maybe Steve Hodges @ West Bay Traders in Vero Beach, FL as he deals in shipwreck coins and is quite knowledgeable or Daniel Sedwick on the internet at... www.sedwickcoins.com

Best of luck to you David.

Phips

 

[holeintoe]

Chuck Hann- can you help me with a dollar amount for a piece of Eight from the Atacha sunk in 1581 and discovered by Mel Fisher. I was one of his DiveMasters before he found it and he sent me on in mint condition. Curious as to dollar amount it is worth. David [email protected]

Does anyone find it curious that a former DiveMaster for Mel Fisher would not know how to spell Atocha or the fact that one of the most famous shipwrecks in treasure hunting history sunk in 1621. Just something to make you say hmmmmmmm.

 

[mad4wrecks]

Mel didn't pay much. And he hired lots of down and out and uneducated people. Many of them were on drugs.

Mel was like the Mother Teresa of Key West.

So no, it doesn't suprise me.

(besides, everyone knows the Atocha sank in September of 1622)

 

[holeintoe]

1622, my bad

 

[Salvor6]

Hey Waterpump-7 I'll give you a straight answer. If it's an 8 Real coin, it's worth about $600 with the certificate of authenticity. Without the cert. it's worth about $200. That's because there are many coins from the 1620's era that were found in California.

 

[PhipsFolly]

My mistake on the date... I must be getting old... I worked on some of the stuff that came up from the Atocha and can't even put the correct date of its sinking. Maybe I should get one of those racks where you put the boots on and hang upside down on it to increase the blood flow to my brain. Anyway, thanks Tom for correcting my brain fart.

 

[Peg Leg]

Can anyone tell me what the purest form of silver to be refined in the mid 1700.
The reason for this question is that I had a 16 ounce bar of silver assayed and was told that it was .998 fine silver with .002 in gold. The bar has 3 stamp marks that are not very good but two of the marks appear to be from around the 1720's.
I did not think that the mints were able to refine silver to such a fineness and why is there gold present?
I can scan and send to copy that shows what I am talking about to anyone who wants to see for themselves.
Peg leg

 

[ToyMan]

Peg Leg - Can you post them on here?

 

[ToyMan]

Peg Leg's silver posted by his requst.

 

[Peg Leg]

THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THEY ARE. I never said they were Spanish bars. These were recovered from the same location that I found silver that had been melted and poured into something. I have a Prime example of an 8 pound ingot that was melted in a iron cooking pot. In fact the heat not only melted the silver but the pot as well and they sort of melted together. I have no idea why the Indians did this but I find some strange things here and there that do not make any sense to anyone including myself. BUT I was asked to show some of the silver bars that I had so here they are.
It does not matter to me what people think I just know that they came from an Indian site AND they ARE silver.
However I do have a few silver bars that are like some the Spanish would mold but they are for a later date-MAYBE.
Peg Leg

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Mel didn't pay much. And he hired lots of down and out and uneducated people. Many of them were on drugs.

Very true gdaddyflex. He offered to "hire" me on a visit, and I was a very poor diver. Back then you needed no certification. We thought he would never find it. (Atocha)

 

[Peg Leg]

Cornelius or anyone else,
What is the finest silver the Spanish mints were able to produce.
The round ingot shown above is one that the Indians did not melt. It has 3 stamp marks that you can plainly see when the scan is blown up. They appear to be from the time of PHILIPPUS V. I have several Silver REALE II coins and the stamp marks showing the Shield are exactly the same.
As I stated before this ROUND BAR/INGOT is .998 fine silver with the balance being gold. This the Indians did not do so WHO DID and WHY?
Your guess is as good as mine.
Peg Leg
What a way to start a day

 

[Peg Leg]

Cornelius, Very interesting information.
Actually I never thought of the one ingot as being a cupcake but since this has been said here are the dimensions
Bottom size........2"
Top size.............2.5"
Thickness...........0.75"
I could scale the exact size but that would be a waste of time.
I cannot believe that someone would go to all this trouble to make a FAKE silver ingot and then stamp it with the same type stamp used in stamping coins and then leave the silver in the middle of the woods.
I cannot even think why the Indians would leave gold trinkets laying around or why they would leave silver melting in a iron pot.
Unless they came under attack and had to run to escape.
This is a mystery that has no conclusion.
By the way these items were found near the Indian River on Private Property and not under control of the State of Florida and were found over 15 years ago.
I have recovered so far 30 pieces of hammered gold coins and 97 silver coins. All the silver coins are REALE IV which I find unusual but what is new?
Thanks again Cornelius.
Peg Leg

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Bigcypresshunter . Your text is exactly what it said in the article I pointed to and gave the E-Mail number of . No use repeating it do you think ? Cornelius

Yes, I copied and pasted it. I used your quote to give you the credit. Great link you found Cornelius. I meant no insult to copy and paste the relevant portion for our readers. Actually the whole link was interesting. I removed it.