For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated with pirate treasure. I guess one could easily blame Hollywood films for that, after all they have made pirate movies since the early days of film making. Growing up in the 1980's one particular movie that I remember was The Goonies. It was a story by Steven Spielberg where a group of teenagers set out to find the pirate treasure of One Eyed Willy in order to save their homes from an evil real estate developer. I guess it really gave me the treasure bug and I have a bit of a treasure hunter myself ever since.
I have searched for treasure along the treasure coast of Florida by both metal detection on the beaches as well as diving. I did find a bronze cannon from the era but no gold or silver. Sadly our boat was to small to recover the cannon, but I still have it's GPS coordinates just in case! Although I have never found pirate plunder as of yet, it was a great hobby while I was living in the Caribbean for many years. There are so many amazing sites to see under water as well as combing the beaches with a metal detector. I highly recommend it as a fun hobby, and you might strike it rich!
I have talked about the Nuestra Senora de Atocha a couple times in past posts. To anyone in the gold or collecting world it needs no introduction. The Atocha was a Spanish geleon carrying treasures plundered from the Americas to the king of Spain. It was filled with precious gem stone, gold, pearls and silver all bound for Spain departing from Havana as part of a large treasure laden fleet. However on September 6, 1622 they sailed into a major hurricane and the Atocha struck a reef in the Dry Tortugas and sank. The treasure was lost for centuries.
Mel Fisher was a treasure hunter who set out to find the Atocha. In 1973 silver bars from the ship were found and they began to find more and more of the lost treasure. This launched a huge legal battle with the state of Florida wanting to take "their cut" of the treasure. After eight expensive years of litigation the US Supreme Court sided with Fisher and they were awarded the entire treasure.
Until this day the most valuable part of the treasure has yet to be located. In the captain's quarters the finest emeralds from Colombia are still missing. One emerald ring has been located so far worth about $500,000 US. So just imagine a chest or chests full of these laying on the ocean floor. The hope of a discovery like that is why us treasure hunters keep on searching! Although Fisher passed away in 1998 his heirs continue the search for the missing treasure.
Recovered gold and silver coins from the wreck are extremely valuable and owning a treasure from the Atocha is on most collectors and stackers wish list. Mine is no different, I would love gold but even silver would do! So today is day number 7 of my 12 Days of Christmas wish list! My pick yesterday was very affordable, so today I'm shooting the moon... A gold coin from the Atocha minted between 1566 to 1587. That was the early days of the pirates of the Caribbean.
photos from eBay
Can you imagine finding this absolutely gorgeous coin on a reef or the sands of the Caribbean? This particular coin is up for sale for an asking price of $75,000 US. It may sound like a lot, but anything recovered by Mel Fisher will always have a huge premium. It's an amazing coin that may have been held by an actual pirate at some point! It doesn't get much better than this! It sat under the ocean for more than 250 years and it still looks almost brand new right out of the mint!
Coins like this are the reason I have spent years searching for treasure. Although I've never found one of these (yet) I will keep on searching because I don't have that kind of money in my bank account! And this isn't the only treasure out there, there is literally lost treasure around the globe. All you have to do is venture out and get very, very lucky! I have found gold nuggets in the western US, as well as some silver, copper, and even some precious gem stones. My finds so far haven't come close to the Atocha, but if you never bother to look you won't ever find anything!
And to cap off this is day 3 as a Inleo premium member and I'm figuring out the threads still. Any help anyone can offer to help speed up the learning curve would be appreciated. Thanks in advance! I have powered up to cub level, so I'm making progress.
This will finish up my post for the day. It's kind of a mix of my wish list and treasure hunting posts that I love to share all in one here on Hive. If you have any suggestions, comments, or questions please feel free to leave them below. Have a great Monday everyone!
And my disclaimer:
Gold and silver stacking can be a fun hobby but isn't for everyone. You can lose money. I'm not a financial advisor and this isn't financial advice, please always do your own research before spending your hard earned money.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuestra_Se%C3%B1ora_de_Atocha
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Fisher
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_Tortugas_National_Park
Re-blog lottery
Now for the winner of the re-blog lottery! Today we had 32 people re-blog my post, thank you so much! The people who re-blogged were:
Voluntary daily reminder list for those who request to be on it:
If you want to be added to the list as well just feel free to ask!
Thank you everyone! I have been working to improve my engagement and all of you have really helped out! If you have any recommendations or suggestions please feel free to let me know. I'm always looking to improve my posts.
Good luck to everyone!
And the Wheel of Names results:
Congratulations 
You will receive 3 HSBI units!
Now for today's re-blog lottery! You just need to re-blog my post you will be placed on the Wheel of Names for a spin to possibly win 3 HSBI units! Just one prize for the lucky winner. An upvote is not required but is always greatly appreciated. Bots aren't allowed to win the prize. Contest ends at 14:00 (2 PM) California Pacific time tomorrow. If I somehow missed your re-blog please let me know and I'll add you to the next draw.
What are HSBI units? They are units that you can purchase to sponsor someone and you in turn receive a unit as well. This way we both benefit! They give you occasional upvotes on your posts for a lifetime, and the more you accumulate the more often you receive upvotes and the bigger they can be. You can read some more here:
If you have more questions feel free to ask.