Atocha Crew Recovers 55-Pound Copper Ingot Worth Up to $25,000 off Florida Keys
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 17
Atocha Crew Recovers 55-Pound Copper Ingot Worth Up to $25,000 off Florida Keys
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 17
Summary
Mel Fisher’s Shipwreck Expeditions recovered a 55-pound copper ingot from the Nuestra Señora de Atocha wreck site about 35 miles west of Key West, the latest artifact from the 1622 Spanish galleon.
Captain Drake Nicholas said he found it after his metal detector caught a faint signal while he was retracing an area and following a tight trail of coins through dense mud.
The encrusted ingot is valued at about $18,000 to $25,000 and, Nicholas said, reflects copper’s strategic value in the 1600s as a material used to cast bronze cannons for Spain.
Nicholas said newer detection technology is helping the crew probe deeper below the mud, where he believes a larger concentration of treasure may remain; he identified 19 more high-value targets to investigate.
The find adds to a long-running search that began in 1969 and yielded the Atocha’s “Mother Lode” in 1985, with the site still producing discoveries such as a 22.5-pound silver bar found earlier this summer.