Pillar dollar wreck sight

[Blak bart]

Took my bosses kids snorkeling over this site last Saturday. Used to be a small pile of ballast stones on the inside edge of a beautiful patch reef. Its been that way most of my life. I was amazed when I swam over it and the entire bottom of the ship was exposed and obviously had been dredged. This site is in Biscayne national park so I was very puzzled how someone had been dredging on it. At least 50% of the ships timbers had been tagged with small white plastic tabs. I have never seen so much exposed before with timbers, ballast, and other artifacts strewn about for a hundred yards around the site. I did some online research and found that ECU had done an archeological dig on the site in the summer of 2014. The person that led the dig was writing a thesis on the effects of treasure hunting and looting on spanish colonial wreck sites. Amazing how they get to do a one time dig in a national park and no else can even touch a blade of sea grass. They stated that the site was sanded back over and everything was re buried but 2 years later I see every thing exactly how I saw it in the student diggers facebook posts. The paper is quite interesting to read and I urge everyone to read it. Im 50 pages in of 258. Very scientific and proper. To bad the students facebook posts arn't with pictures of students posing on the ship timbers with metal detectors. Funny how east carolina university gets to tote off artifacts from a florida shipwreck thats located in a national park. Oh well thanks E. C. U. My boss gave me a quite large tip for showing him a spanish shipwreck. There wouldnt be much to see if they had not dredged it out. Ill take some pics so everyone can see how well the site was re sanded by archeologists.

 

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[Darren in NC]

The person that led the dig was writing a thesis on the effects of treasure hunting and looting on spanish colonial wreck sites.

Hmmm...let's see how this works. The archaeological community (who says it is best to leave wrecks "in situ") exposes timbers that once were protected by overburden. They scatter the wreck, then leave the timbers to rot. Then they write a paper bashing another group for destroying wrecks.

Seems logical to me.

 

[Blak bart]

Hmmm...let's see how this works. The archaeological community (who says it is best to leave wrecks "in situ") exposes timbers that once were protected by overburden. They scatter the wreck, then leave the timbers to rot. Then they write a paper bashing another group for destroying wrecks.

Seems logical to me.

Yesssss!! Exactly. Check it out. Just search " pillar dollar wreck " and it will all pop up. So far the paper is pretty good reading even though most of what ive read is all comon knowledge and other peoples work. Hopefully ill get to the meat of it soon. Some of it will make you puke.

 

[PhipsFolly]

Blak Bart... Too bad you weren't able to get photos of the site and the ECU tags and the destruction... This is the very very thing we could use as just cause against the well entrenched self righteous greedy Archies that see fit to make treasure hunters out to be the grave robbers while it is actually just the opposite... It's time to get fresh minds at the DHR and get the proper permitting process back in place...

 

[Blak bart]

Yes I agree. I will obtain photos as soon as possible. Some sort of reasonable dialog needs to be opened between the archaeological and salvor community so that a compromise can be reached. To say that im not interested in the preservation and public access to these artifacts is wrong on there part. I also dont think that the destruction of history and artifacts in the pursuit of treasure is smart either. I would love to be able to take my son to a museum to see properly preserved wrecks one day. To me its all treasure including the history. I think it will take a combination of private industry and archeological guidence to preserve these treasures. I dont see why everything cant be preserved. I think the sale of recovered treasure could finance the building of museums. The state could sell there portion of recovered treasure to finance the preservation and presentation of the rest of the artifacts. Well made replicas could be made of the pieces that were sold and then placed in these displays. Admission fees could be generated to generate funding. If the treasure salvors were allowed to keep and sell there part for profit we could make a living at this. And everyone lives happily everafter and we can all dig again under proper permitting. !!! Yaaa right. Guess ill go check the high tide/low tide beach line again. Maybe ill find some chump change today.

 

[Goldminer]

Back in 1964 my partners and I salvaged that wreck site just inside the reef. We found thousands of cannon balls stacked on the reef, and timbers at about six feet under sand. I was there later by myself, and found a large conglomerate that contained coins, mini balls, Mexican Fire Opal, and part of a sliding bar shot with a piece of rope still wrapped around it. One of my former partners also went back, but up against the reef closer to shore, and found part of the ship that had contained the coins. I won't say how much monetary value that he got from the site, but it was worth the effort.

 

[Blak bart]

Wow thats awsome ,what an incredible time that must have been. The good old days of wide open treasure salvage. I wasent even born until 1970. Cant even touch a thing now unless your an archeologist. What I would give to be back there with you in those days. !!! At least I can take people over the site and make a days pay of it. Anyway thanks for that, feel free to pm me any time I love hearing about the old days. I just met marty meylach over the phone still trying to get together with him for lunch one day. I know he dove on that one too

 

[Darren in NC]

Back in 1964 my partners and I salvaged that wreck site just inside the reef. We found thousands of cannon balls stacked on the reef, and timbers at about six feet under sand. I was there later by myself, and found a large conglomerate that contained coins, mini balls, Mexican Fire Opal, and part of a sliding bar shot with a piece of rope still wrapped around it. One of my former partners also went back, but up against the reef closer to shore, and found part of the ship that had contained the coins. I won't say how much monetary value that he got from the site, but it was worth the effort.

It's great to hear the "rest of the story," Goldminer. Was anyone able to identify the ship?

Everything prior to the 70s was the golden age of being able to recover shipwrecks and their history.

 

[Goldminer]

Darren,
The ship was the Victorioso, she was sunk in the late 1700's. As an aside, I had contacted Mendel Petersen (Curator of Arms for Smithsonian) about the bar shot with the rope still wrapped around it. He did not respond right away, so like a dummy, I gave the bar shot away. Sometime later, after I was in the Virgin Islands, Petersen came to my fathers house in Miami to get the artifact. He told my father that it was the only item that proved that a ship had been in a fight. When I dug up the conglomerate, I was amazed that the timbers were in such good condition. As another aside, one of Mel Fishers group and my group got into a nasty confrontation over that site. I mean nasty.(guns drawn)

 

[Blak bart]

Amazingly guys the timbers that have been exposed by east carolina universitys dredging are in great shape. There is a sub floor or bilge deck still intact above the hull planks. Goldminer that is some great stuff youve shared with us. Thanks for that. I wonder if that bar shot was fired at the old girl. ? Sounds like you would have fired it back at mel fisher if you could have. Wow you guys really did live the pirates life back then. Ive been busy fishing but first chance I get ill get some photos of what she looks like now.

 

[bulletprobe]

gold miner ship was the Victorioso maybe a war ship because of its contains of canon balls and a few treasure of the shipwreck