The Nuestra Senora de Atocha is one of the richest found Spanish treasure galleons dating back to the 1600's. It set sail on September 4, 1622 from Havana to Spain. It sailed among the Tierra Firma Flota, which included twenty-eight ships.

In order to protect against pirates, the fleet included two heavily armed galleons; one stayed in the front while the other was in the rear. The front ship was called the Captina while the one in back was called the Amaranth. At this time, the Atocha was serving as one of these heavily armed ships as the Amaranth.

The shipwrecks rest scattered from the Marquesas Keys to the Dry Tortugas. There were 265 people on board of the atocha and only five survived. The Atocha was too far down for the bulk of the treasure to be salvaged so rescuers went on to look for treasures from the Santa Margarita and the Nuestra Senora del Rosario.

On October 5th a second hurricane hit furthermore concealing the wreckage of the Atocha. Spanish salvagers had searched for the ship for more than sixty years but haven't been able to find a trace. Searching for this treasure seemed almost as a lost cause.

Due to the constant growth in technology and exploration, more people became more confident that they could find the Nuestra Senora de Atocha. In 1969, Mel Fisher and his "Treasure Salvors crew" began the hunt.

In 1973 three silver bars were found and linked back to the Atocha; this showed that they were close. The Atocha carried an unbelievable amount of treasure for its time period.

In 1975, his son Dirk found five bronze cannons which matched the identity of the Atocha. Unfortunately just days later, Dirk along with his wife died because their salvage boat capsized. The pursuit continued despite the tragedy.

On July 20, 1985; Mel Fisher's other son found more artifacts which became known as the "motherload". The Atocha was finally found and the excavation period began.

Treasures included 24 tons of silver bullion in 1028 ingots, 180,000 pesos of silver coins, 582 copper ingots, 125 gold bars and discs, 20 bronze cannons, 525 bales of tobacco, 350 chests of indigo and 1,200 pounds of worked silver. Along with these material items there were many personal items such as jewelry and personal goods.

This finding was not only a treasure trove of goods but also of knowledge revealing what life was like around the 1600's. Some of the treasure found was sold to private collectors and the public while the rarer items were put in museums such as Mel Fishers Maritime Museum.

Finding gold bars from the atocha

For more on Atocha Treasures, visit Atocha.com

Facts used in this site were mainly from Atocha.com. Pictures were from Google images and Atocha.com.