Pre-Owned (Presumed) Atocha Shipwreck Coin Pendant

Pre-owned (presumed) Atocha shipwreck coin pendant. The coin is encased in a 14k yellow gold wire frame with swivel bail. The piece measures 29.56 x 13.2 mm in diameter (bail to edge of frame) and weighs a total of 1.49 grams. (Chain sold separately).


History of the Atocha Coin:

The term “Atocha Coins” refers to silver and gold Spanish coins recovered from the shipwreck of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha.

On September 6, 1622, the heavily laden treasure galleon of King Philip IV’s Tierra Firme Fleet struck a reef and sank in a raging storm near the Florida Keys. More than two hundred and sixty persons perished and tons of gold, silver, and other precious cargo were lost to the sea. All attempts to locate the shipwreck failed until the location of the primary cultural deposit was made by Treasure Salvors, Inc., on July 20th 1985.

The Nuestra Senora de Atocha carried over 200,000 hand stamped silver coins from mints in Potosi, Lima and Mexico City. To date, only 128 gold Atocha coins have been recovered! The gold Atocha coins were minted in Spain, as gold coins were not minted in the New World in 1622. The gold Atocha coins would have been in the pockets and possessions of the wealthy passengers.

Silver coins are referred to as “pieces of eight” and were measured in reales. Their denominations are 8 reales, 4 reales, 2 reales, 1 real, ½ real and ¼ real. An 8 reales silver Atocha coin was roughly equivalent to one month’s pay for a sailor in the 1600’s.