Mel Fisher, Treasure Hunter

Mel Fisher (August 21, 1922 – December 19, 1998) was an American treasure hunter best known for finding the 1622 wreck of the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha named after a shrine in Madrid for protection.  He discovered the wreck July 20, 1985. The estimated $450 million cache recovered, known as “The Atocha Motherlode,” included 40 tons of gold and silver.   There were some 100,000 of the Spanish silver coins known as “pieces of eight,” gold coins, Columbian emeralds, gold and silver artifacts, and 1000 silver bars.  

More about this find follows the video of Mel Fisher below.

Large as it was, this was only roughly half of the treasure that went down with the Atocha. The wealthiest part of the ship, the stern castle, has yet to be found.  Still missing are 300 silver bars and 8 bronze cannons, among other things.

In addition to the Atocha, Fisher’s company, Salvors, Inc., found remains of several shipwrecks in Florida waters, including the Atocha’s sister galleon the Santa Margarita, lost in the same year, and the remains of a slave ship known as the Henrietta Marie.

The site of the wreckage of the Atocha, called “The Bank of Spain” (a sandy area 22 feet deep and within 200 yards of the anchor location), is still being worked on and treasures are slowly being recovered. The emeralds from the Atocha are some of the finest emeralds of the world. They come from the Muzo Mine in Columbia. The emeralds of Muzo are renowned for their color and are the world standard for which all emeralds are judged.

Fisher was an Indiana-born former chicken farmer who eventually moved to California and opened the first diving shop in the state.  In 1953, he married Dolores (Deo) Horton who became his business partner.  She was one of the first women to learn how to dive and set a women’s record by staying underwater for 50 hours.

Mel and Deo had four children: sons Dirk, Kim and Kane, and daughter Taffi. Tragically, on July 13, 1975, Mel’s oldest son Dirk, his wife Angel, and diver Rick Gage died after their boat capsized during their quest for treasure.  

Mel struggled through decades of hard times treasure hunting in the Florida Keys with the motto “Today’s the Day.”

He hired Duncan Mathewson as chief archaeologist during the Atocha period and Salvors, Inc., became experts in recovery and conservation of underwater artifacts, remaining active as of 2010.  

Fisher blended private and public interests when it came to underwater cultural resources. The Supreme Court of the United States confirmed Fisher’s ownership to recovered treasure with a provision that Mel’s company donates 20% of the artifacts to the state. Concern in the U.S., and Florida specifically, for protection of submerged archaeological sites contributed to the 2001 adoption of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage.

Visit Mel Fisher’s official website at http://www.melfisher.com.

The Mel Fisher Maritime Museum site is located at http://www.melfisher.org.

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