The emerald-studded ring lost in the Spanish shipwreck four centuries ago has been rediscovered during one of the most famous treasure hunts.
The ring is part of the treasure from the Atocha wreck. (Photo: Sotheby)
Set to be auctioned for the first time in December, the ring belongs to the wife of the CEO of Perdue Farms. The ring features a 6.25-carat emerald cut in an octagonal shape, resting on the deck of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha, a large Spanish galleon that sank off the coast of Florida, USA, in 1622 after encountering a severe storm in the strait of the same name. Only a few crew members and passengers survived the disaster.
In 1985, diver Mel Fisher announced that his treasure hunting team had discovered the bow of the Atocha, which contained 180,000 coins, 24 tons of Bolivian silver, and 125 bars of gold from the Caribbean, Mexico, and the Andes, along with a collection of raw emeralds mined in Colombia. The Atocha treasure was estimated to be worth $400 million in 1985, equivalent to $1.1 billion today.
The Atocha wreck is one of the greatest treasures of all time. Fisher’s team signed an agreement to give more than 25% of the treasure to the state of Florida. After nearly a decade of litigation, in 1982, the Supreme Court ruled that the state of Florida had no claim to the treasure and returned it to the discoverers.
The Atocha was built in Cuba in the 17th century to transport goods. In 1622, the Atocha set sail from Spain to the West Indies, stopping at ports in Cartagena, Colombia, and Portobelo, Panama, to load the wealth of noble passengers. The Atocha and the Santa Margarita sank off the coast of Florida on their return journey to Spain.
Frank Perdue, the late CEO of Perdue Farms and a member of a wealthy American family that funded the expedition, received several pieces of jewelry from the treasure. He donated most of it, keeping only the emerald ring as an engagement ring for his fiancée, Mitzi, in 1988. Mitzi Perdue has decided to sell the ring to fund humanitarian organizations in Ukraine. The ring is estimated to fetch up to $70,000 at the auction in New York on December 7.
