Atocha Shipwreck : 2 Encrusted 8 Reales on Barrel Hoop Fragment

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Atocha Shipwreck : 2 Encrusted 8 Reales on Barrel Hoop Fragment:
$10000.00

Up for sale is truly a rare item. Two coral/sand encrusted 8 reales perched on a barrel hoop fragment from the famous shipwreck Atocha. When the Atocha met her doomsday hurricane in September 1622, she sank in 55 feet of water approximately thirty miles west of Key West Florida.When the items the Atocha was carrying sank, boxes of coins were crushed. In some of the boxes were thousands of newly minted 8 reale silver coins.Many of the loose coinage fluttered down 55 foot and settled on everything that preceded them. In this case, 2 of the reales settled onto a wooden barrel with iron stays. These two coins, remarkably, stayed in this position on the ocean floor for almost 400 years. If you think about that it is remarkable. Over 400 years of ocean currents and hurricanes and the two coins did not move. The iron in the barrel hoop and the silver in the coins aided in the the development of concreation which enveloped the coins and hoop fragment. Truly a piece of history and a piece of natures artwork. Adding to the rare piece is the fact that Mel Fisher conserved almost all of the coins recovered to be able to place a value on coins based on condition and rarity. I have seen only a handful of coral encrusted coins from this shipwreck making this piece even rarer.No visible markings on the coins because of the heavy encrustation. The piece is approx. 7.5 inches long and weighs approx 1.5 pounds. I have never seen unconserved Atocha coins on through 20 years of watching and I believe you won\'t see another. Coins and hoop will come with an original 1986 Treasure Salvors certificate. Why buy a cleaned and highly polished silver reale from the Atocha, there are hundreds of thousands of them on the market This coins and hoop artifact looks the same as it did when brought up to the oceans surface when the main pile was discovered in 1985.( Most Atocha coins are found in this state and then ran through electrolysis and ball bearing tumblers to impart a mirror like surface) Own something other collectors do not have Own a piece of Spanish Colonial Florida history, history that will never be repeated.Don\'t want to offer? That\'s fine,it\'s a cool thing to view. Key words: Mel Fisher Spanish Colonial. treasure, 1715 fleet 1733 fleet shipwreck Spanish Colonial....NO SALES OUTSIDE THE USA PLEASE/// YOUR offerS WILL BE DELETED// ITEM WOULD HAVE A HARD TIME PASSING US CUSTOMS