A ring made with a Colombian emerald from the Nuestra Señora de Atocha will come to auction! The emerald came from the most famous successful treasure hunts of all time. The owner of the ring, widow of former Perdue Farms CEO, prepares to sell the emerald ring in December and donate all proceeds to humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.
Forbes.com
Carlie Porterfield
Forbes Staff
Sunken Treasure
The Nuestra Señora de Atocha was sunk in a hurricane after leaving Havana Cuba in 1622. The Spanish shipwreck was lost for over four centuries before being rediscovered off the Florida Keys.
Treasure
The Nuestra Señora de Atocha shipwreck was a Spanish Galleon filled with silver, gold and Colombian emeralds. According to the manifest, the Atocha should have been carrying 24 tons of silver bullion in 1038 ingots, 180,000 pesos of silver coins, 582 copper ingots, 125 gold bars and discs, 350 chests of indigo, 525 bales of tobacco, 20 bronze cannons, and 1,200 pounds of silverware.
The Nuestra Señora de Atocha sank with 265 people onboard. Only 5 survived to tell the tale.
Battle for Ownership
Discovered off the coast of Florida, the state of Florida wanted its fair share of the treasure. The state claimed the wreck, and had professional diver and treasure hunter, Mel Fisher, and his team, sign a contract that handed over 25% of the treasure to Florida. After nearly a decade of legal battles, the Supreme Court ruled in 1982 that Florida did not have a stake in the rediscovered treasure and returned full ownership to the Fisher and his team.
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