1618-1621 ATOCHA TREASURE SILVER COIN GRADE 1 REALES 4 PHILIP III, Potosi,Peru, T ($3,000 value NOT A REPLICA) Start Price USD 999.00 Current Price USD 999.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Monday, December 01, 2008 End Time Monday, December 08, 2008 Location Hallandale, Florida See more about '1618-1621 ATOCHA TREASURE SILVER COIN GRADE 1 REALES 4 ' Description NO RESERVE!!!!!!! The term “Atocha Coins” refers to silver and gold Spanish coins recovered from the shipwreck of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha. On September 6, 1622, the heavily laden treasure galleon of King Philip IV’s Tierra Firme Fleet struck a reef and sank in a raging storm near the Florida Keys. More than two hundred and sixty persons perished and tons of gold, silver, and other precious cargo were lost to the sea. All attempts to locate the shipwreck failed until the location of the primary cultural deposit was made by Treasure Salvors, Inc., on July 20th 1985. The Nuestra Senora de Atocha carried about 230,000 hand stamped silver coins from mints in Potosi, Lima and Mexico City. To date, only 128 gold Atocha coins have been recovered! The gold Atocha coins were minted in Spain, as gold coins were not minted in the New World in 1622. The gold Atocha coins would have been in the pockets and possessions of the wealthy passengers.      Reales:  4   -Silver coins are referred to as “pieces of eight” and were measured in reales. Their denominations are 8 reales, 4 reales, 2 reales, 1 real, ½ real and ¼ real. An 8 reales silver Atocha coin was roughly equivalent to one month’s pay for a sailor in the 1600’s. Reign:  Philip III, 1598-1621   -First use of ordinal numbers after king's name on coins. First dated coins. King during "30 Years War" with France. Mint: Potosi, Peru -Potosi is located high in the Andes mountains in present day Bolivia, formerly the Viceroyalty of Peru. The "P" mintmark stands for Peru and was used by this mint from its opening in 1575 until its closing in 1825. The mines of Potosi were the richest silver mines in the world and produced the majority of the world's silver. The first coins Potosi minted were the shield-and-cross type after the La Plata and Lima mints closed. In 1650, all Potosi coins were recalled due to inferior quality and weight. The mint reissued coins in 1652 struck with the new Pillar and Wave design. Screw press coins were made in the Bust Dollar style starting 1773 until Potosi closed. Potosi did not make any gold coins until 1778. EXAMPLE: Assayer: T -1618-1621  Juand Ximenez de Tapia - many reversal & broken dies.  Shield design. Grade:  1 -A clean strike should exists both on the obverse and reverse. No pitting or erosion should be evident except for details missing at the edges. Grams: 12.1 -The silver coins are referred to as "pieces of eight" and were measured in reales. Gold coins were measured in escudos and were referred to as "doubloons". The term doubloon originally came from the word "double" for a two escudo coin. Two pieces of eight equaled a one-escudo coin or a sixteen-to-one ratio between gold and silver bullion. A common working man, in the 17th century, had to work one month to earn one piece of eight.  Denominations of the coins were based on the "Onza" or avoirdupois ounce equaling 28 grams. Each denomination was to equal one-half of the next higher denomination. Variations in weight were common.  Due to the crude hand-struck minting process, no two coins look alike. The denomination of the coins was often stamped on the right-hand side of the shield. The numbers on south American cobs are written in Roman numerals in the old Spanish script used for accounting. Mexican and Screw Press coin denominations were displayed in Arabic numerals. **This Mel Fisher gift shop "coin" from 1985 (2 inches diameter) is included, as well as the Atocha Pot Sherd with Certificate of Authenticity shown below.    ****The value of the pot sherd is about $40.00 ***The coin doesn't have a certificate.  The value of the coin is $3,000 told to me by the Mel Fisher Museum.  ***They also want $200 for a replacement certificate. Place a Bid!