Rare Spanish Coins Found in Ship Wreck

The Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha, struck a reef and sank on September 6, 1622, during a raging hurricane near the Florida Keys. Mel Fisher and his company discovered the main wreck site on July 20, 1985 and ultimately recovered over 160,000 silver Spanish colonial coins. The Atocha has the distinction of being the richest Spanish treasure galleon recovered to date.

1. Exceptional full cross with lions and castles struck in high relief, equally beautiful full shield with bold mint and marks P and T. Deeply struck on a thick compact disk of metal.

2. Beautiful and nearly full weight coin struck during the 5th and last period (1596-1605). These coins show variations in the border between the legends and inner details that include a border of x's, squares, rectangles, and diamonds. This is a top end Atocha coin with a full cross and shield, bold mintmark, bold assayer mark, bold denomination mark, and a nearly full kings name that appears twice due to some doubling on the strike.

3. Nice full cross with castles and one lion visible, equally nice shield with a nearly full crown and visible mint, assayer, and denomination marks. Struck on a very large heavy planchet. A very nice, nearly full weight coin.

4. Struck on a very large diameter heavy planchet, full cross and shield but with light details throughout. This coin was struck between 1586 and 1589, the time period of the defeat of the famous Spanish Armada. Rare find from this wreck.

5. Nice cross with light corrosion near the bottom. Full shield with mint, assayer, and denomination marks all visible. Dated at 1619.

6. Beautifully struck full cross with bold lions and castles. Equally well struck full shield struck off center to the left causing both the mint and assayer marks to be off the planchet. An exceptional Atocha coin dated 16??.

7. Rare Seville mint mark, nicely centered full cross with well detailed castles, partial shield including the denomination mark struck sideways along the right side shield border. A very rare Atocha coin, only a hand full recovered.

Meaning of words:

Mintmark: A letter or symbol on a coin that identifies the mint of origin

Assayer mark: a mark on an article of trade to indicate its origin and authenticity

Denomination mark: One of a series of kinds, values, or sizes, as in a system of currency or weights

Planchet: A flat disk of metal ready for stamping as a coin; a coin blank.

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