Divers working the wreck site of a Spanish treasure galleon off the Florida Keys have recovered a 55-pound copper ingot that may be worth as much as $25,000, according to the salvage outfit that made the find. Mel Fisher’s Shipwreck Expeditions announced the discovery from the Nuestra Señora de Atocha, the galleon that went down in a hurricane in 1622 while carrying treasure from the Americas to Spain.
The crew, led by Captain Drake Nicholas, described the object as a major find. In a post on its Facebook page, the organization said the ingot was produced more than four centuries ago when molten copper was poured into sand molds. The copper aboard the Atocha, the post explained, was bound for Spain, where it would have been used to make bronze cannons — weapons the post described as stronger, more powerful, and capable of firing farther than many iron cannons of the era.
According to the expedition’s account, the Atocha’s manifest listed 140 copper ingots aboard the ship, a detail that makes the recovery both rare and historically significant in the crew’s view. The group estimates the ingot’s value at between $18,000 and $25,000, and said its divers believe they are “hot on the trail” of additional treasure.
Nicholas told the outlet that he initially mistook the object for something else. “I thought it was a cannon, but it ended up being a copper ingot, which was also very exciting,” he said. He also noted that copper in that period was not a material just anyone could stockpile. “I believe that only certain people could actually own copper because it was making such strong cannons,” he said. “It wasn’t something an everyday guy could have a stockpile of — it was more for the king and queen to make cannons.”
A Wreck Site Still Giving Up Treasure
The ingot is not the only item the crew has pulled from the debris. The expedition said divers have also recovered silver coins, musket balls, other artifacts, and a 22.5-pound silver bar. In its post, the group framed the steady stream of finds as evidence that something larger may still be buried in the wreckage. “Heavy treasure. Heavy ballast. More discoveries. More evidence that we may be closing in on something significant,” the post read, offering congratulations to Nicholas and the full crew.
The Atocha has been a target for salvagers for decades. The galleon sank in 1622 during a hurricane off the Florida coast, and its wreck site has yielded a long series of recoveries over the years. The identification of copper ingots through the ship’s manifest gives this latest find a documented place in the vessel’s known cargo, rather than an anonymous piece of debris.
Other Underwater Finds in the News
The Atocha discovery comes amid a string of notable underwater archaeological finds elsewhere. According to the outlet, divers in August found a 2,400-year-old shipwreck off the coast of an island in Greece’s Cyclades, a site containing hundreds of pointed-bottom commercial amphorae. That discovery, like the copper ingot, points to the enduring appeal of shipwreck exploration — both for the artifacts themselves and for what they reveal about trade routes and economies centuries old.
For the Mel Fisher crew, the immediate focus is the Atocha site itself. The group’s public statement suggests the copper ingot is being treated less as a standalone prize than as a marker. The combination of heavy material — ingots, bars, ballast — and smaller artifacts like coins and musket balls has the team optimistic that the debris field still holds more to uncover. Whether that optimism is borne out will depend on what the next dives bring up.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/local/2026/09/17/treasure-hunters-make-exciting-discovery-in-400-year-old-shipwreck-off-florida-coast/