$ 2,970.00 USD Size Guide
Please Note: This is an authentic 1715 Fleet Shipwreck Treasure Coin, and you will receive the exact pendant in the photographs and description.
FOR PENDANT SIZE SEE COIN DETAILS BELOW
One of the most famed treasure fleets of all time, the 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet yields some of the most stunning examples of early 1700's silver Spanish "cob" shipwreck treasure coins.
Crudely minted cob coins - short for cabo de barra, or "end of the bar," each has it's own unique shape - and combined with the sea wear and stunning patinas, each is a small work of art!
What connection does the 1715 Fleet have to Pirates: These "pieces of 8" are also the famous coins of pirate legend and lore. The Spanish quickly began salvaging their fleet. But pirate Henry Jennings amassed a crew and attacked Spanish salvage camp in early 1716. They made off with upwards of 120,000 pieces of 8. Obviously, this coin survived that raid, and lay hidden for hundreds of years on the ocean bottom, to be salvaged only a few years ago.
Note from Robert: Stunning quality and rare piece. Mel Fisher and his family worked the 1715 Fleet before they moved to Key West to being their 16 year Search for Atocha. This type of Certificate hand signed by Mel Fisher himself was only issued between 1965 and 1972.
This is about as rare as it gets! Over the years, I have only had the honor to work with a handful of coins of this rarity and quality from "The Fleet."
Due to their size, 4 reales in this quality are highly sought after. Then add the following:
Hand signed Certificate of Authenticity by Mel Fisher
Stunning, centered cross (see more coin details below)
This coin was recovered during the Glory Days of the 1715 Fleet, only a few years after Fisher and his family moved to Florida to hunt treasure, and just before they began the search for Atocha off Key West.
It comes with "PIECES OF EIGHT" by Kip Wagner, the man who discovered the Fleet in modern times.
This is true Treasure Hunter memorabilia - rare and valuable.
Additional Coin and Certificate details: Shipwreck coins in this top grade condition are rare. They were often protected from the ocean in either a conglomerate ("clump") of coins that was once a treasure chest, or attached to an "EO" Encrusted Object usually containing iron objects that were part of the ship's fittings, and act as a sacrificial metal, protecting the coin from the harsh salt and heavy wave action environment.
When we acquired it, it was in "as recovered" condition, and it took me many hours to gently conserve and restore this coin.
Mexico City mint cobs from this period (early 1700s) with a deeply struck and full cross are quite rare. At the time this coin was struck, the War of Spanish Succession had been raging for 11 or so years, with very few Spanish treasure fleets sailing during that time. This coin was struck pre-1713 - we can tell the circa of the coin by the shield design, then compared to the date ranges of coins recovered from “The Fleet.”
The war was expensive and Philip V needed pesos badly. So they were slamming these coins out quickly.
According to the Mel Fisher Atocha grading system, the cross side (reverse) is a Grade 1, and the obverse is a Grade 3. This coin would have been removed from a “clump” or conglomerate of coins (the remains of a treasure chest), with the cross side facing in, which is why it is in such amazing condition. The shield side facing out took to brunt of the harsh saltwater environment for nearly 300 years.
It is a rarer beautiful and high quality Fleet coin, and what makes it very rare is the hand signed Mel Fisher COA dating back to the mid 1960s.
When I first got my start treasure diving "The Fleet" over 30 years ago, one of the "old timers" I used to dive with told me that after a long day treasure diving, Mel used to sit on his porch, with a glass of rum, overlooking the ocean off Vero Beach, and sign these Certificates.
Treasure divers usually have to pay their own way in exchange for any treasure recovered. The original "as recovered" condition of this coin suggests that it was a Diver's Division given to a diver as "pay" at the end of the treasure diving season.
True treasure hunter memorabilia. These notes will be kept with your detailed documentation package we provide, so its provenance isn't lost to time.
For more on the 1715 Fleet, click here>
To see our complete collection of Spanish "Piece of Eight" treasure coins, click here>
