I have a silver 8 reale from the Atocha, with the necessary document of authenticity. It is a grade 3, 14.80 oz in weight, from Potosi in Bolivia and minted during the reign of Philip III of Spain. Unfortunately, no date. How do I find the worth of this coin. Sincerely, Shootist449
Atocha coin Dear Doug: As I understand it, the galleon sank off the coast of Florida, because of a hurricane. The galleon went from Bolivia to Central America to load up on more treasure, unfortunately, the commander of the fleet knew full well that they had left Bolivia way too late and now they were facing the deadly hurricane season. There were hardly any survivors and attempts to salvage the treasure, by the Spanish, were fruitless. Shootist449
Atocha silver 8 reale I would love to oblige you with pictures, but I have the worst time, transferring pictures from my camera to my laptop. Shootist449
Probably all true. But my theory was the Atocha sank because it was carrying too many 14.8 ounce coins... ========== Going to Key West? See Mel Fisher's Atocha Museum.
Shootist, I did a search on eBay for Atocha shipwreck coins. Here it is... http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trk...&_nkw=atocha+shipwreck&_sacat=11116&_from=R40 Sellers post high BINS for these coins, but I don't know if they sell. Some of the auctions will give you a better idea of the actual value. A lot of serious collectors dismiss shipwreck coins - why pay a premium for a water-damaged coin? But obviously a lot of other people find the history worth a premium.
Shootist - First of all, in my opinion the Atocha coins are so over-priced that it is ridiculous, beyond ridiculous even. The majority of them were sold to tourists and people who knew little to nothing about coins. And that's the only reason they brought the prices they did. No serious collector of Spanish colonial coins would ever pay anywhere near what they cost - never ! Secondly a grade 3 is a coin that has pretty severe corrosion damage. But even those grade 3 coins were sold for way more than they were worth. To see what I am talking about all you have to do is look up realized prices for the same kind of coins as those found on the Atocha, meaning same dates, mints, and denominations. Those coins sell for a small fraction of what the Atocha coins sell for. The only differences being they were not on the ship and they do not have the corrosion damage that pretty much all of the Atocha coins have. To see an even better comparison you can also check the realized prices on coins from other shipwrecks. Yes, shipwreck coins often sell for a premium purely because they came from a shipwreck. People think that is cool. I don't disagree, I think it's pretty cool too. But the premiums those shipwreck coins bring is no where near what the Atocha coins bring. And the premium is usually only a little above what the same coin, a non-shipwreck example, would bring. Take the El Cazador coins for example. When they first hit the market people were paying stupid money for them as well. But now that a few years have passed, the same coins that sold for hundreds of dollars now sell for $60 or $70. That is because people have wised up and learned the truth. What this tells you is that the prices for the Atocha coins is based purely on hype and advertising. People see other people pay stupid money for the coins, so they think they should pay stupid money for them too. And they do ! You can draw your own conclusions.
Thanks so much for all the research and information on the Atocha silver coins. You saved me a lot of time and effort, wasting my time trying to sell the coin. I think, I'd rather get a gold wire border and a nice necklace. Again, many thanks. Sincerely, Shootist449
Dear John: Thanks again for your effort and research. I sure appreciate it. I think rather than try and sell the coin, I am going to get a nice gold wire border for it and a necklace. Many thanks. Sincerely, Shootist449
Dear Doug: The Atocha sank from pure stupidity. The commander knew he was going right smack dab into hurricane season, and yet shoved off into the unknown anyway. I agree with you about the extra weight, the Atocha, as all the treasure galleons were overloaded, plus the nobles, returning to Spain, had added extra weight, by taking their own valubles, as well. So the galleon was doomed from the get go. Sincerely, Shootist449
Now think of the whole galleon filled with these large coins, plus all the other gold, jewels, etc, that the Atocha carried. The galleon was doomed from the get go, before it even left port, because it was so over weight. Sincerely, Shootist449
