Nuestra Señora de Atocha

The final voyage

Nuestra Señora de Atocha was built at Havana and sailed as almiranta — the rear-guard galleon — of the 1622 Tierra Firme fleet, twenty-eight ships that left Havana on 4 September bound for Spain. Her registered cargo, documented in the Archive of the Indies and reconstructed by Mel Fisher's Treasure Salvors and historian Eugene Lyon, included roughly 24 tons of silver bullion in 1,038 ingots, about 180,000 pesos of silver coin, 582 copper ingots, 125 gold bars and discs, 350 chests of indigo, 525 bales of tobacco, 20 bronze cannon, and 1,200 pounds of worked silverware — before any unregistered contraband is counted. [1](https://www.melfisher.org/copy-of-1622-galleons)

A day out of Havana, on 6 September 1622, a hurricane struck the fleet and scattered it across the reefs of the Florida Keys. Atocha struck a reef near the Marquesas Keys and sank in about 55 feet of water. Of the 265 people aboard, only five survived by clinging to the stump of the mizzenmast; the hatches were battened and divers of the day could not reach the hull. A second hurricane on 5 October further broke up and scattered the wreck before Spanish salvors could recover it. [1](https://www.melfisher.org/copy-of-1622-galleons)[2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuestra_Se%C3%B1ora_de_Atocha)

What was aboard

A Spanish colonial register for Atocha survives in the Archive of the Indies and has been used by historians and by Treasure Salvors' own researchers to reconstruct her registered cargo. It does not capture unregistered or smuggled goods, which contemporaries acknowledge were common on this route.

Silver bullion: Approximately 24 tons in 1,038 ingots, per the reconstructed register.

Silver coin: On the order of 180,000 pesos in minted coin.

Gold: 125 gold bars and discs.

Colonial trade goods: Copper ingots, indigo, tobacco, and worked silverware, plus twenty bronze cannon as part of the ship's own armament.

How to collect

Confirm the certifying body: Coins and artifacts sold as Atocha material should carry documentation from Mel Fisher's Treasure Salvors/Mel Fisher's Treasures or recognized third-party certification referencing the find.

Treat round figures skeptically: The often-cited $450 million valuation is a period estimate, not an audited figure; it should not be read as a precise, current market value.

Ask for the find/lot record: Legitimate material is traceable to a specific recovery date and inventory number from the organized excavation, not a vague 'from the Atocha' claim.

Understand cargo scope: The documented register does not itemize the emeralds and jewelry that later recoveries produced; treat spectacular individual pieces on their own merits and paperwork.