In 1980, treasure hunter Mel Fisher pulled Gold Bar 27 from the wreckage of a Spanish galleon that had sunk during a hurricane in 1622. Queens Jewels acquired the United States Admiralty Custodianship to the fleet from the heirs of world-renowned treasure hunter, Mel Fisher. Florida treasure hunters found a trove of $4.5 million worth of Spanish gold coins 300 years to the day after a fleet of ships sunk in a hurricane while en … The treasures found aboard the ship were valued at $450 million, which comes out to about $1 billion today. A tiny portion of the hoard of treasures that were eventually found in the wreck of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha. The biggest claim of all was Fisher's with regard to the Atocha. The Atocha has the distinction of being the richest Spanish treasure galleon recovered to date. While still young, he experimented with breathing underwater with a bicycle pump, a bucket and some hose. Mel Fisher's family carries on his golden legacy | wtsp.com The ring was found 56 kilometres (35 mi) from Key West, along with two silver spoons and other artifacts. Nevertheless, Mel continued with his career, but went through many lean years before, in 1985, finding what would be the discovery of a lifetime, the sunken Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha, on the 20th July, and subsequently recovering treasure … It carried treasure, Fisher said, worth $600‐mi1lion today. $17 BILLION Worth Of Lost Spanish Treasure May Have Just Been Discovered Off The Coast Of Colombia – But Who Owns It?? Despite the tragedy, the Treasure Salvors continued to search for the Atocha, and finding treasure scattered along the seabed. Mel Fisher and his company Treasure Salvors, Inc., discovered the main wreck site on July 20, 1985 and ultimately recovered over 160,000 silver Spanish colonial coins. And Mel Fisher’s Treasure Museum in Sebastian is dedicated to it. In 1968, 324 years after Melian's death, the plaintiff, TREASURE SALVORS, INC., and its President, Mr. Mel Fisher embarked on a modern search for the lost galleons of the 1622 Fleet. That is, until treasure hunter Mel Fisher found the wreckage in 1985 after 17 years of searching. US treasure hunter Mel Fisher was most famous for discovering the shipwrecked Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha, which went down in a hurricane in 1622, laden with new world riches. It is believed that Mel Fisher, who was born in Hobart, Indiana in 1922, read Treasure Island as a boy and it always served as inspiration while searching for lost treasure. He was paid back in two coins from the salvage, both of which were corroded, worn 8 reales, with little if any detail. Fisher died on 19 December 1998. But this sum is speculative many times over. In June 2011, divers from Mel Fisher's Treasure Salvors found an antique emerald ring believed to be from the wreck. Mel Fisher was the treasure hunter made famous for his 16-year search for the Spanish galleon Atocha shipwreck. Together with … The short answer, Sean Fisher says, is $60 billion. In 1985, after nearly 17 years of searching, noted treasure hunter Mel Fisher and his team found the Atocha, a Spanish galleon that had sunk off the coast of Key West, Fla. in 1622. Other years, you spend $3 million and find $400 million. "The motherlode," as it became known, held … They spent long years following the wreck’s elusive, breadcrumb-like trail – sometimes finding nothing for months, and then discovering bits and pieces … The mission to find the Atocha and her treasure became the fixation of a chicken farmer turned deep-sea diver named Mel Fisher, who searched doggedly for the treasure for 16 years from 1969. His mantra continues to inspire the search for the rest of the treasure from the Nuestra Senora de Atocha and the Santa Margarita, the Spanish galleons that sank during a hurricane on September 6, 1622, near Key West, Florida. So much so that he convinced the world-renowned treasure hunter of the early 1980s, Mel Fisher, to come to Utah to find the Lost Rhoades Mine. After many choruses of We're in the Money sung at the Two Friends bar-restaurant, Fisher told reporters the Atocha find was worth maybe $400 million, and … Everyday he insisted, "Today's the Day"! Some years, Fisher said, “you find $300,000 or $400,000 [in treasure] and spend $3 million looking for it. World-renowned treasure hunter Mel Fisher's story of selling everything to put his dream on the line to find his treasure comes true. Fisher is a shipwreck hunter at Mel Fisher's Treasures in Key West (Sean is Mel's grandson), and he … With an estimated worth of some $400 million, the Atocha treasure made Fisher, his family members and other investors millionaires. "It turned from a hobby, it was a passion, and we kept taking it further and further and further," said Martinez. In 1969, Mel Fisher and his Treasure Salvors crew began a sixteen year quest for the treasure of the Atocha. Fisher came, “And he flew around the Uintas in a black helicopter and organized SCUBA divers to descend into Scout Lake for an underwater entrance to the mine, but he came up empty handed.” Fisher's son officially found the wreck – and treasures worth more than $450 million – on July 20, 1985. Much of the treasure and artifacts went into Mel Fisher's museum, which was located aboard a life-sized galleon replica, the Golden Doubloon. The world’s most famous explorer of the high seas, Mel Fisher, won rights to Spain’s Nuestra Señora de Atocha, which sunk near the Dry Tortugas islands, over 56 … Mel Fisher did what many have not - he realized his dream during his lifetime. Years ago one of my local coin dealers invested a couple thousand in one of Mel Fisher's salvages. When the family did find that treasure, down near the Florida Keys, Mel Fisher honored that promise, even though his son was gone, having died when their boat sank during the quest for the treasure, just one week after having found the first cannon confirming it was the Atocha wreck site. He displayed it … Mel Fisher passed away on December 19, 1998 at the age of 76. … Credit: Mel Fisher Treasures. This is the story of Mel and his family's search through the years. Mel Fisher was born on August 21, 1922 in Hobart, Indiana, USA. DOLORES HORTON FISHER 4-6-1936-13-2009 Dolores Horton Fisher, 72 years old. They were accompanied by the certificates which, it seems nowadays, are worth much more than the coins. All have been used to describe Dolores "Deo" Fisher, widow of the late treasure hunter Mel Fisher, who lost The excavation is ongoing, but the findings so far have been valued at over $450 million. July 20, 1985 was "the day" at last when Mel Fisher, the world's greatest treasure hunter, found his dream of dreams, the priceless treasure … Added to the coins found on 11 July which had spilled out, plus the few found in the same area with the gold locket and chain in June, comes to the grand sum in gold of: 1 + 22 + 25 = 48 2Es (the one “doub loon” recovered in June is a 1714 or 15 Mexican piece); and the … Florida-based treasure hunter Mel Fisher started to find signs of it, including five bronze cannons, from 1969 onwards and, in 1985 located the wreck of the ship itself. ? Mel Fisher, Camera Department: The Incredible Petrified World. 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