The American farmer quit his job to find a treasure of 40 tons of gold and silver

Gold and silver and emeralds were taken from shipwrecks centuries ago worth up to 450 million USD (10.2 trillion dong).

The most valuable in the world

This amount of gold and silver was so much that the workers spent two months on board.

Nuestra Señora de Atocha (Our Atocha lady) is one of the most famous sunken ships in the world. The reason why this name is still recalled to this day is because of the huge amount of treasure inside.

In 2014, Atocha was included in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the most valuable shipwreck ever salvaged, according to the Telegraph. It carries about 40 tons of gold and silver, 32kg of emerald when in distress. According to Richest, these treasures are so many that workers have spent two months on board.

Since its discovery, the exploited treasure has a total value of up to 450 million USD (10.2 trillion VND).

The ship carried about 40 tons of gold and silver when sunk.

In addition to silver ingots, the treasure obtained from Atocha includes emerald emeralds - stones identified as rare and more expensive than diamonds. Some of these gems have just been auctioned in April 2017. The most prominent is the 884-carat jewel, modeled as "one of the world's largest high-quality gems", estimated to cost 4 to 4. 5 million USD (about 91-114 billion VND).

In the treasure, there are countless precious jewelry and antiques. Typically, the gold chain is estimated to cost up to US $ 120,000 (VND 2.7 billion), or finely carved antique spoons of US $ 180,000 (VND 4 billion).

Another special artifact taken from Atocha is a bezoar stone, an object found in the stomach of sheep, deer or llamas. These stones are thought to have the ability to detoxify when immersed in toxic water, costing up to $ 35,000 / tablet (VND 795 million).

The emeralds are picked up from the Atocha ship.

Currently, rare treasures of treasures have either been sold at high prices, or on display at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West, Florida. The story of the Spanish ship Nuestra Señora de Atocha and treasure hunter Mel Fisher is also one of the world's most famous treasure hunts.

Where is the treasure?

Named after a religious site in Madrid, Spain, the Nuestra Señora de Atocha belongs to a fleet of ships leaving Havana, Cuba in early September 1622. In addition to 265 people, the ship carries about 40 tons more gold and silver and other ships. Expensive objects from Colombia, Peru and other regions of South America.

After being attacked by the storm on May 5, 1622, Atocha was sunk off the coast of Key West, Florida, USA. Most people on board were killed, except for two sailors and three slaves. They survived by clinging to the sail, the only part floating on the ship's water surface.

Atocha ship sank in early September 1622.

When the news spread, the Spanish government sent five other ships to the area to find Atocha. However they failed. Another storm came on October 5, causing the wreck to continue to be destroyed and sunk.

After six decades of Spanish search, there are still no traces of Atocha or the treasure found, according to the History page.

Near the end of the 20th century, an American farmer named Mel Fisher - later became a treasure hunter - decided to pursue Atocha.

Since 1969, Fisher has been searching for tireless Atocha, discovering many small signs in the process like three silver ingots in 1973, five bronze firecrackers in 1975. This makes him believe he is approaching the ship.

One of Atocha's guns was salvaged.

However, only a few days later, Fisher's son and wife died in the process of finding treasure when their small boat capsized.

Despite this great loss, Fisher continued his work. In 1980, Fisher's group discovered the majority of Santa Chevita's wreck, Atocha's sister ship. Finally, in July 1985, Fisher's other son, Kane, discovered the legendary ship.

Fisher's group described the seabed at the time as a coral reef with gold and silver. They saw signs on silver bars that matched Atocha's inventory, confirming that this was the ship they were looking for.

The joy did not last long, after Fisher, Florida's discovery confirmed the ship and forced Fisher to give the state 25% of the treasures found.

Mel Fisher was the one who found the treasure of Atocha.

Fisher did not approve, this discovery statement must be his own. After eight years of litigation, the US Supreme Court finally ruled in favor of Fisher on July 1, 1992. He was given ownership of all the treasures found from the ship.

Most investors participating in the search process with Fisher become millionaires thanks to the treasure of Atocha. Fisher later died on December 19, 1998.