Emeralds Found near Key West????

old man

Bronze Member
Aug 12, 2003
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At the Mel Fisher Attocha lease, we know those exist. No boubt some scams could arise to fool treasure seekers. Every year, I think might be during Mel Fisher days...investors get to dive for emeralds at a spot known as "Emerald City". Yes, the investors often do make some very nice emerald find. These are high quality Colombian emeralds and of a top gem grade.
 

Just think, 4' high boxes filled with emeralds just sitting in this guys garage! I just love these treasure stories.
 

old man said:
Red_desert said:
If you want to know the truth about the emerald find, go to the Mel Fisher museum site. Here is the page you need...
http://www.melfisher.com/SalvageOperations/RecentFinds/081810_Emerald/Emerald.asp

Has a photo where that gem color shows through, emerald held up to see.
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Red desert, This emerald find has nothing to do with the Fisher's. This is not from the Atocha Site. :icon_pirat:
I've wondered if there could be some emeralds on other wreck sites too.
 

I'm sure there are emeralds on lots of other wrecks. We know the Atocha and 1715's had emeralds so it would be obvious that lots of others did as well.
 

Hangingfor8 said:
I'm sure there are emeralds on lots of other wrecks. We know the Atocha and 1715's had emeralds so it would be obvious that lots of others did as well.

Emeralds, since standard metal detectors don't detect them, I guess like mentioned on the Mel Fisher page is the way. Bringing sand, seashells, all up by hose, then sifters used to find the emeralds. Would be work, but how else can you check for these non-metallic treasures?
 

We have a local member who has found emeralds locally on a beach, but has been chastised for his claims. Why? It's apparent emeralds were carried on the treasure ships. I've seen the one at Fishers in Sebastian..It's big, but not particularly good quality.

I'm sure those ships carried some gems, and the crew snuggled even more. Why the doubt?
 

There are ways to find and see emeralds buy using a detector of sorts.A friend and i have been experimenting with it and it does work,and its not electronic.
 

FISHEYE said:
There are ways to find and see emeralds buy using a detector of sorts.A friend and i have been experimenting with it and it does work,and its not electronic.

John, You and ????, Should contact the Fisher's > They would probably pay you to find the Stern Castle of the Atocha. Actually, I think they have a standing offer of a 10% finders fee. :icon_pirat:
 

Im sure that stern castle was busted up into kindling wood along its journey.All they are going to find is its contents along a very long debris trail.
 

A very long debrie trail into the quicksands and making a short turn to the East before settling. humble
 

FISHEYE said:
There are ways to find and see emeralds buy using a detector of sorts.A friend and i have been experimenting with it and it does work,and its not electronic.

If it works then it can't be the system made and promoted by Fitzgerald from the Oregon coast, which can supposedly cause anything to vibrate at a frequency established using a sample of the same material.

Mariner
 

Alright..here's the trick. Some emeralds effloresce in the presence of a black light. Now, getting the black to work in sunlight.....
 

FISHEYE said:
There are ways to find and see emeralds buy using a detector of sorts.A friend and i have been experimenting with it and it does work,and its not electronic.
aloysiusinfla said:
Alright..here's the trick. Some emeralds effloresce in the presence of a black light. Now, getting the black to work in sunlight.....
Simple solution - dive or walk the beaches at night with underwater lights. I dive for lobster at night, and they stand out like a sore thumb when the beam hits them. "Bugs" are really stupid, and very easy to catch at night, and during the day. Emeralds would be just as easy to catch at night with a light :icon_pirat:.
CSI tv shows can get a black light to work just fine during the day. ;D ;D ;D ;D

Could this be Dell responding about the "black to work in sunlight" :icon_scratch: - gosh I hope not.
 

The hard thing would be to get the black light to work underwater.
 

The black light only works at night.I have a portable police model and a u/w housing for it.There are special filters you can use that can see emeralds during the daytime.
 

old man said:
FISHEYE said:
There are ways to find and see emeralds buy using a detector of sorts.A friend and i have been experimenting with it and it does work,and its not electronic.

John, You and ????, Should contact the Fisher's > They would probably pay you to find the Stern Castle of the Atocha. Actually, I think they have a standing offer of a 10% finders fee. :icon_pirat:

According to one diver on this forum, treasures found on the debris trail, go far as 10 miles NW of Atocha wrecking spot. I've checked topo maps in that area and found even a 20 ft deep round hole. Makes me wonder if the sterncastle once was visible in that shallower water, got used for bombing practice during the war. At least, once I mentioned the hole in another thread, got a diver comment about a bombing range had been somewhere.
 

The whole area there is a bombing and strafing area. It is still used for dog fights and jets running around breaking the sound barrier, but the bombing seems to have stopped in the last 10 years. They mainly used wrecks that were there since WWII. As for a 20 foot hole, yes there are a few deep holes, but only one has visible wreckage, and that is a modern shrimp boat and it is all gone but the outriggers and rigging. There could be some wreckage that has been missed, as they mainly used mags, which only get iron, and that probably had none, or very little. Much of that area way to the NE of the Atocha motherload is sand and much is hard bottom with maybe some sand over it. I know the area that they are working now is sand with mud under it. Once you get a few miles North of the Marquesas, it all seems like sand.
 

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