|
|
|
Researched by Augi Garcia from
Historic Real Treasures
Nuestra Señora de Atocha was without question one of the most valuable treasure wrecks ever found. The story of her tragic loss in 1622 is matched by the tragedy and contention that surrounded her rediscovery three and half centuries later. The Atocha was barely two years old when on September 5th, 1622, a strong hurricane wrecked her and five other ships of the 1622 Flota along the Florida Keys. Close to her sank the Santa Margarita. Both ships had been built expressly as convoy escorts for the Spanish treasure fleets. Reportedly built of sub-standard materials, on her first voyage the Atocha had sprung her mainmast and leaked badly. Arriving at Portobello, Panama, in the summer of 1622, the repaired Atocha was designated the Almiranta, or second in command, of the treasure fleet returning to Spain. She embarked silver and gold shipped from the mines of Bolivia and Colombia, together with 48 passengers returning to Spain. Departing Panama on July 22, 1622, the treasure fleet called first at Cartagena and then north for Havana, arriving in Cuba on August 22.
Early Tuesday morning, Atocha was dashed on a reef off Key West and sank in 55 feet of water. Only her mizzen mast remained visible. Five survivors from the ship's complement of 260 were rescued by the merchantman Santa Cruz. The Santa Cruz returned to Havana, and officials immediately prepared to recover what they could from the wreck. Divers quickly located the wreck of the Atocha, but discovered that her hatches were still fastened and could not be forced without explosives. Before they could return, the mizzen mast snapped off in another storm, and the ship’s location was lost. Fast-forward nearly 350 years and in 1970, a treasure hunter named Mel Fisher formed a company called Treasure Salvors to look for the Atocha. Working with a permit from the State of Florida, Treasure Salvors recovered the first artifacts in 1971. Over the next four years the company recovered about $6 million worth of gold and silver, as well as a large number of rapiers, muskets and small arms, storage jars, and coins. But clearly the ship itself, and its “Motherload”, had not been found. On July 13, 1975, Dirk Fisher, Mel’s son, located five of the ship's bronze guns lying in 39 feet of water. A week later diving was suspended when Dirk, his wife, and another member of the crew drowned after their dive boat capsized at the site. Mel grieved but did not abandon his search. The next five years revealed little new material from Atocha, although in 1980 Treasure Salvors divers located the nearby remains of the Santa Margarita, which they salvaged for two years. The search for Atocha struggled on until July 20, 1985, when the Salvors found the hull of the ship, piles of silver ingots, and chests of silver. The “Motherload” at last!
Over 900 silver bars appear on the Atocha’s manifest. The majority were the property of individuals. Many of the bars were mined and processed in upper Peru (at Potosi or Oruro). Each ingot was formed by pouring more than 80 pounds of silver into a casting mold. As soon as the ingot cooled, it was struck with a serial number, the same one that would be listed on the ship’s manifest. The assayer would next remove his "bite" to test to the purity of the silver. The purity of bar, typically more than 99%, was then stamped on the bar with a "ley" or fineness number. Each bar cast for an individual was subject to 20% royal tax. Several tax seals or “quintos” were struck into the bar indicating that the tax had been paid. Finally, monograms and other siglas were added, indicating the owner or shipper of the bar. As the bar progressed on its journey to Spain, other marks were sometimes added by shipmasters and other officials. The full meaning of all these in-transit markings is not yet known.
- Dated P1622 (The letter prefix P stands for Potosi.)
Atocha Bar 767 has attracted the attention of long-time collectors and experts in the field of Spanish Treasure Bars. All of them agreed that the bar is a spectacular piece and certainly among the ten most important bars recovered from the Atocha. Here are some of the issues we have discussed 1. Regarding the three tax stamps or quinto marks visible on the bar: The three quintos seemed to have been carefully aligned in a 90 degree angle relationship that no one has explained. All the dies used for the quintos are and should be assigned to Philip IV, Phillip III having died in 1621, but one of the quintos shows an ordinal III. This is not certain, but apparently an impression of the last “I” was lost due to the way the die was impressed on the bar. 2. Regarding the “V” mark on the bar:
3. Regarding the Assayer's bite: Here we see the so-called “double scoop” assayer’s bite. Once the assayer tested the purity of the silver removed in the bite, the assayed silver was kept as a fee for the process. The double scoop bite or “bocadillo” is found only on bars made and assayed at the Potosi mint. Both the assayer and an assistant had to work together, using a special tool, to scoop out the peanut-shaped sample of silver.
4. Regarding the dated mint mark: On the census prepared by Craig and Richards as an appendix to SPANISH TREASURE BARS From New World Shipwrecks (Volume One) we counted only 33 bars out of 901 that have the mark P1622 That's only the 3.6%. It is clear that the date 1622 with the Potosi Mark P" is very rare, on this case this is has been on the most clear P1622 marks out of the 33 bars recovered from the Atocha, indeed a truly rarity.
5. Regarding the “M” mark on the bar: A small M stamped near the center of the bar tell us that the Potosi assayer of the bar was MEXIA, who is also known from a few other Atocha bars bearing his stamp. Dr Alan Craig in his book about Atocha bars describes this assayer mark as rare.
6. Regarding the owner’s monogram (AR) of Lorenzo de Arriola:
How Arriola managed to acquire the wealth that 66 silver bars represent, we are not sure. He was involved with several businesses, but quite likely he had some connection with the slave trade in Peru. He was registered on contemporary documents as a “vezino de Potosi.” That means a “neighbor” or official resident with all rights and privileges. He had lived for at least 10 years in the Viceroyalty of Peru by 1622. The slave trade, supplying workers to the mints at Potosi and elsewhere, was one of the most lucrative businesses in 17th century Peru. Few wealthy businessmen shunned its easy money. 7. Regarding the mysterious “EA” mark: In addition to Arriola’s monogram, the bar has a well carved second monogram composed of the letters E, A, and possibly L or I. This monogram is in the upper left corner of the bar. We do not know who or what this mark represents. Lorenzo apparently obtained this bar directly from the mint at Potosi. From there it was transported by llama to coastal Arica, then from Arica to Perico, Panama, by ship, and then across the Isthmus to Portobello by mule, where it was loaded on the Atocha. Somewhere along this route the bar acquired this second “EA” monogram. None of the marks registered on the Atocha manifest seem to match this EA. From the way it is displayed, and the fact that the manifest says that the bar was shipped by Arriola to himself, we know that Arriola did not need a shipper … at least from Portobello. We know Arriola died on the Atocha accompanying his bars to Spain. So Arriola did not seem to have needed a shipper for this leg of the trip either. Since Arriola shipped the bar to himself throughout the journey, it seems unlikely that EA was an agent or shipper that Arriola used in Peru or Panama.
Another thought was that EA could be the mark of the ex-owner. This seems implausible since when the bar arrived in Spain and was to be claimed, how would it be verified who was the true owner of the bar if multiple owner and ex-owner marks were on it? Rival claims could be made. The marks of ex-owners were quickly effaced to forestall this confusion. It has been suggested that perhaps EA was the payee of a bar Arriola was sending to Spain to pay a debt. But there is no documentary confirmation of this transaction in particular, or of this way of marking bars being transferred to another party. It has also been suggested that EA could be a variant form of the monogram of A. de Aguirre, cut into the bar in this fashion to avoid marking the over the "quinto" tax mark. But as can be seen on other Atocha bars, this was not a concern. Many Atocha bars show marks that extend over the quinto tax stamps. Aguirre was a businessman who shipped bars on the Atocha from Havana, but no connection with Arriola is known. A final theory declares the bar a tax payment for slave transactions in Peru: The King was owed a tax on every such transaction. The bar was being sent to the King in Spain to pay Arriola’s taxes. The bar would have had at least two names on it: the man paying the tax (Arriola) and the official who registered it as a tax payment. If the bar was a tax payment, this would also explain why no averia payment was due or marked on the bar. The averia was a royal tax on shipments going to Spain. It was marked as a diagonal line on the bar, indicating what part of the bar was owed as an averia payment. If it was a bar being sent to the King as a tax payment, it would be exempt from the averia.
The galleons were heavily loaded with merchandise, much of it silver bullion and coins, that had arrived at Lima only shortly before from the southern Peruvian ports of Arequipa and Arica. Arica in particular was the preferred coastal terminus of silver coming from Potosi, 120 miles to the southwest and 14,000 feet higher! Today both of these coastal cities lie in Chile. The land journey of 63 miles between Perico, Pacific port of Panama, and Portobello, the Atlantic terminus, was extremely dangerous. After two days on mule back, the convoy would arrive at Las Cruces or Venta de Cruces. There it would be divided into two groups.
Eventually, if luck was with them, they reached a shark-infested Caribbean estuary defended by the great fortress, El Castillo de San Lorenzo. Sailing under its protecting guns, the convoy then continued its journey along the coast toward Portobello. Treasures and trade goods finally arrived at the King’s Warehouse in Portobello Harbor, to be stored there until the Treasure Fleet left for Spain. The second group, carrying the most valuable cargo, especially the gold and silver, went overland. The steep and narrow trail sometimes disappeared altogether under the luxuriant tropical vegetation. Silver bars and sacks of silver coins were strapped on the back of mules, sure-footed animals trusted for the rough trip. Long mule trains were wrangled across the Isthmus by Negro slaves. Travelers walked in Indian file, with the team leader keeping a strict eye on the muleteers, who were always regarded as potential bandits or traitors. There was additional danger from “maroons”, fugitive blacks who lived in the forests and lurked near the towns. Maroons were said to lie in waiting to carry off the womenfolk when they came to draw water or wash their linen beside the river! They also served as informers and guides for the English, who forever coveted Spanish gold and silver. Despite its peril, this road served the Spanish well for more than three centuries. Many treasure trains passed along it as they moved treasure from Peru and the Pacific to the Atlantic and eventually Spain. The wealth of Spain depended on getting this little road open and secure.This was the perilous route of Lorenzo de Arriola’s silver bar, which had traveled safely a very long way: from Potosi overland to Arica, from Arica by ocean to Perico, from Perico overland by mule to Portobello, and from Portobello by sea to Havana via Cartagena. Only the trip from Havana to Spain remained. Unfortunately, after so many months of traveling and such a great effort from men and animals, our silver bar was not destined to complete the final leg of its journey to Spain. A furious hurricane awaited the Atocha in the Florida Straits. The ship and all its treasure went to the bottom. Our bar settled into the coral sands of the Florida Keys, untroubled by its new home amidst shifting sands and currents, patiently waiting 363 years to resume its travels.
Bibliography - Allen, Paul C. PHILIP III AND THE PAX HISPANICA, 1598-1621: The Failure of Grand Strategy. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000. - Craig, Alan K. and Richards, Ernest J. SPANISH TREASURES BARS FROM NEW WORLD SHIPWRECKS VOLUME ONE. West Palm Beach: En Rada Publications, 2003 - Grigore, Capt. Julius Jr. COINS & CURRENCY OF PANAMA Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications. 1972 - Mathewson R. Duncan, III. TREASURE OF THE ATOCHA, Sixteen Dramatic Years in Search of the Historic Wreck. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1986. First American edition
written permission of the author.
Many thanks to Phil Flemming and
Ernie Richards that helped on the Article and Research.
|
©2006 Historic Real Treasures & Realtreasures.com All Rights Reserved.
