Key West, FL (PRWEB) March 16, 2009 – 35 miles West of Key West, on the shipwreck site of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha a collection of rare silver serving ware was found by Mel Fisher’s Treasures salvage vessel the salvage vessel DARE lead by Captain Jose “Papo” Garcia, First Mate Borys Fajardo and crewmembers David Zinni, Joshua Fisher-Abt and Miguel Morales.
Mel Fisher’s Treasures has been working the shipwreck site of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha since 1969 and to date half a billion dollars in historic artifacts, gold, silver and emeralds have been recovered. The historic shipwreck salvage company operates an ongoing search for the remaining fortune of her cargo, which could total at least another half a billion dollars.
Over the weekend the crewmembers of the salvage vessel DARE found a large silver-serving platter approximately 17 ¼” in diameter which appears to have some type of design on it. Also found was an intact silver plate, the rim of a silver plate along with a crushed silver bowl and half of a rare ceramic majolica bowl. The silver bowl appears to be intact and will likely be completely restored through the conservation process, which will occur at Fisher’s headquarters located at 200 Greene Street in Key West by Senior Conservator John Corcoran.
According to our VP and Director of Operations, Gary Randolph, in 1997 and 1998 when he Captained the JB Magruder he and his crew found a similar silver plate not far from where the crew of the DARE found the silver serving ware this weekend.
According to Randolph, Captain “Papo” and his crew are currently working the area filling in portions of the trail that have yet to be searched and are very likely to produce some very significant artifacts based on the artifact scatter patterns. As they begin to bridge the gap between the locations of the plate found in the late 90s and where they recently found timbers of the Atocha shipwreck they are beginning to find more and more silver artifacts.
The nature of the artifacts and the location where they were found are both very encouraging in the search for the remaining silver bars and silver coins of the Atocha. Silver plates and serving ware were kept in stacks in the lower hull of the ship in the same area where the remaining 300 silver bars and 100,000 silver coins should be located.
The Mel Fisher’s Treasures team is looking forward to seeing these pieces post-conservation, as they appear to be in very good condition. As we get closer to the summer months we are looking forward to calmer seas and longer trips to the wreck site in search of the remaining cargo of the Atocha. Today’s the Day!
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