The Most Valuable Sunken Treasures In History
Some treasures have been found or have become legends after endless years of searching for sunken ships that supposedly the precious cargo of jewels, pearls, gold, and more. Because of Spain’s and Portugal’s wealth between the 16th and 17th centuries as well as their desire to explore and conquer new lands, many famous and wealthy treasures are from their galleons or armadas.
However, not all sunken ships and treasures have been recovered and since then they have become even more valuable to expeditions. Here’s a look at some of history’s highest grossing and most famous treasures from sunken ships.
Nuestra Señora de Atocha
Nuestra Señora de Atocha was a famous Spanish fleet that was named after the Atocha parish of Madrid and sank in the Florida Keys in 1622. It carried a varied of different treasures from different metals of copper, gold, and silver; a variety of different gems including emeralds and pearls; tobacco as well as indigo to dye different fabrics such as cotton. The full sunken sea ship was discovered by Mel Fisher and his crew on July 20, 1985. Specifically they discovered:
- A gold belt
- Full necklace complete with gems
- A gold chalice
- Heavily intricate gold plate
- A gold chain weighing over seven pounds
- Emeralds
- Religious and secular items
- Silverware
The recovered treasure can be seen at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum.
San Jose
The San Jose sunk near the Port of Cartagena on Colombia’s Baru Peninsula. This other Spanish ship was full of different gemstones including as well as gold and silver (two tons of platinum) that were meant to help the monarchy fund the war against the British. However, in June 1708 during the War of Spanish Succession, a British warship, whose crew had hoped to capture the fortune themselves, sunk the San Jose.
The treasure has yet to be fully recovered from the sea, but it’s a sunken treasure that is still worth searching for by many people because the treasure is said to be worth between $2 billion and $17 billion. Considered the “Holy Grail” of shipwrecks, many excavations groups have believed they found the San Jose only to be disappointed later when they realized it has yet to be found.
Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes
Nuestra Señora de Mercedes is another famous Spanish galleon that sunk, but on the southern coast of Portugal instead of near the land of North and South America. Over 500,000 silver coins, gold coins, and artifacts were discovered from the deep-ocean. It’s believed that this is the largest collection of sunken treasure ever discovered from such a deep area in the ocean.
Flor de la Mar
The Flor de la Mar vessel from Portugal, sunk during a storm in Sumatra, Malaysia in 1511. This ship contained treasure that the Portuguese empire stole from the Melaka Kingdom of Malaysia. The treasure includes 60 tons of gold and chests filled with gemstones and diamonds. Legend has it that the diamonds ranged in size from half an inch to size of a grown man’s fist. It has been sought after, but the Flor de la Mar and its treasure have yet to be found.
Notre Dame de Deliverance
The Notre Dame de Deliverance, a 166 foot armed galleon, was manned by a crew of both French and Spanish seamen worked together (because Spain was at war with England, not able to freely sail across the sea) to bring back supplies and treasure to Europe from the Americas. Altogether, the Notre Dame de Deliverance carried:
- 400 kilos of gold bullion
- 15k gold coins
- 150 gold snuffboxes
- Golden swords and watches
- 24 kilos of silver
- 14 kilos of silver ore
- Diamonds and jewelry including earrings and a ring
- Other precious gemstones
- Cocoa
- Indigo to dye fabric
The galleon sunk not because of a battle at sea, but from a hurricane in 1755 on the shores of Florida. The worth of the Notre Dame de Deliverance is between $2 billion and $3 billion.
Ancient Mediterranean Sea
Some discoveries from sea are those that have happened long ago during the BC era from different Empires around the Mediterranean Sea.
Pantelleria, Italy
Bronze coins from the island, Pantelleria, of Sicily date back to anywhere between 264 and 241 BC. The Roman Empire coins include etchings of Roman soldiers and horses.
Egypt’s Lost Cities
Recently, two of Egypt’s lost cities along the Mediterranean Sea, Alexandria and Heracleion, were discovered underwater with over 2,000 submerged items and other historical items lost long ago including Cleopatra’s palace. During the 1990s, archeologists discovered sphinxes and other statues as gifts to their gods, along with other Greek and Roman shipwrecks.
Additionally, in Heracleion, workers during the excavation discovered different weapons, coins, jewelry, and everyday objects. With plans in the works to make this discovery into an underwater museum, historians have a clearer understanding of ancient Egypt’s trade and way of life for the citizens.
Continuous treasure finds
The sea is filled with countless lost shipwrecks, artifacts, and probably more ancient cities that we have yet to rediscover. Every day, archaeologists and divers are making new discoveries. In September 2013, a family from Florida discovered $300,000 worth of sunken gold from the $175 million treasure (out of the original $400 million) in a coastal wreck of 11 ships dating back to 1715.
The Lost Ship of the Mojave
The Lost Ship of the Mojave is a legend to the Salton Sea Basin of California. The story goes that a galleon sent by the King Phillip of Spain during the 1600s traded rags (when they promised fine European cloths and other items) for large amounts of fine pearls with the Native Americans.
When the Native Americans realized that the Spaniards had lied to them, they attacked one of their ships which eventually sunk after striking a reef after being carried by the current from the Colorado River to the Salton Sea. There are documents that the ship was found during the 1800s by Charley Cusker and his crew, but it was yet to be found again and many still search for the precious cargo that has been lost.
Despite all of the sunken treasures that have been found by archaeologists, think of all of the different pirate stories you grew up with and the legends of buried treasure that have never been found and jewels and gold there could be from Blackbeard, the pirate, to Montezuma, from the ancient Aztec empire. Archaeologists have already found so much treasure, but there are many sunken ships, cities, and treasures out there that have yet to be discovered.
