The Ghost Galleon Lives

When the Spanish Galleon Nuestra Senora De Atocha set sail from the New World in 1622, during the reign of King Phillip IV, she was destined for Spain. Ships from Spain would bring supplies to the colonists, and the return voyages would be loaded with silver, copper, gold and agricultural products.

Beginning with the discovery by Christopher Columbus in 1492, Spanish explorers came to settle in the new territory. Columbus visited Portobello , Panama in 1502. Havana was founded in 1515, Panama City in 1519, and Cartagena in 1533. Colonial mints were established in Mexico City in 1521, Lima in 1535, Santa Fe de Bogota in 1538, and Potossi in 1545.

The return voyage to Spain was fraught with danger from pirates, warring Nations, and severe weather. A fleet of 28 ships, with the heavily armed Atocha as Almiranta, or guard ship at the rear, left on September 4, 1622. The Atocha's 20 massive bronze cannons and 82 infantrymen were helpless and powerless in the face of the raging hurricane of 1622.

The beautiful and heavily armed Atocha was the ship of choice for nobility, wealthy merchants and government officials. Consequently, the Atocha carried a vast amount of personal wealth and jewelry, along with the massive on-board treasure. On September 5, 1622 the Atocha succumbed to the ferocious winds and disappeared into a boiling sea.

The shipwreck of the Nuestra Senora De Atocha eluded discovery, and became so shrouded in mystery for three and one-half centuries, it came to be known as the Ghost Galleon.

After 16 years of searching, Mel Fisher located the Atocha in July of 1985 to worldwide fanfare and publicity. The Atocha (Ghost Galleon) was no longer a mirage or imaginary phantom. Mel went on to achieve fame as the world's greatest treasure hunter; and along the way, was kind enough to help this writer with a fledgling business dedicated to bringing the Atocha treasure, in the form of authentic jewelry crafted from the treasure bullion, to the American public.

I dedicate the following lines to the late Mel Fisher:

The Ghost Galleon

Through the years that Fisher spent
In search of HIS shipwreck
No lucid dream- the lure was real
Like cannons on ship deck

Today's the day- or so he thought
Path clues would disappear
The galleon moved- or so it seemed
Elusive- and yet so near

For sixteen years the sea hid back
Atocha's secret hold
The pirates quest- the treasure chest
And ghostly stories told

The eery mist gave up one day
Something less surreal
The silver, gold and copper too
The ghost Mel found was real.

Jack Magne'

Our newest offering is a line of jewelry appropriately named The Ghost Galleon Collection
We are proud to make available the world's first combining of the silver and copper bullion loaded into the lower hold of the Atocha; and lost at sea in 1622.

The ingots are melted and hand cast by separate silver and coppersmiths into authentic components- and then masterfully fit and finished as incomparable works of history and art.

www.preciousmetaladvocates.com features Ghost Galleon Collection on their web site.

Smooth Sailing, Jack Magne'