Spring Premium LIVE Auction April 30th and Catalog Auction May 7th
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/8/2016
An antique currency piece with a storied past is presented. This silver 8 reale coin (a "piece of eight") was recovered from a sunken treasure galleon off the Florida coast in 1985, where it had remained submerged since September 6, 1622. On that day nearly four centuries ago, King Philip IV’s Tierra Firme Fleet struck a reef and sank in a violent storm. Among the abundant, valuable cargo on the Nuestra Senora de Atocha was a trove of more than 200,000 hand-stamped silver coins from mints in Potosi, Lima and Mexico City. The entire cache – including this survivor – remained undisturbed until July 20, 1985, when the wreck was located by Treasure Salvors, Inc. A fascinating relic of early New World history!