Emeralds:

This is an addendum to my earlier post, which was in response to pegleg's question about emeralds on the
1715 fleet wrecks.

The Urca de Lima was built by the Dutch and was rated at 350 tons. It carried twenty cannons. This ship was well salvaged when it wrecked including most of the treasure (at least the registered treasure) because it stayed afloat for a while after the storm. This ship has been located and the wreck site is called the "Wedge Wreck" because some silver wedges were recovered in 1963 from the site. Some additional treasure and artifacts have been recovered from the area including a conglomerate containing 3,000 raw emeralds, another conglomerate containing 25 gold coins, some silver coins and other artifacts. It is generally felt that this wreck is well salvaged and the area is now a state park

The beach opposite this wreck would be good to check after a storm. Look closely for the little green stones!
 

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Seahunter,
Just found it on the net, several articles are available. Just hunt...
Looking forward to diving with you. Looks like we are gearing up to get back to work by March 1. Doing those "busy work" jobs like inventory of tools, tanks, gear, etc. Lots of fun :-\
Diverlynn
 

Jeff K said:
Fisheye... That info came from from one of Bob Marx's books. The problem with this wreck is that John Potter reports it sinking off Colombia (Treasure Diver's Guide, page 183). Different name (Santa Teresa), but the same year and only four survivors. Too much of a coincidence for it to be different galleons, but it's possible.
Click to expand...
According to Millas quoting Duro, the Santa Teresa and the Santiago sank in a hurricane in 1681 (not 1683) between 200 and 300 miles out of Cartagena, with only four survivors.
 

To Old Hands:

Is it practical to search beaches using a black light? Do emeralds flourese?

Mark
 

Emeralds.........as far as shipwreck, if in loose form are fairly worthless...my opinion.

The "A*&#ha" 1622 wreck-site produced many many of them......try to sell one if you were "lucky" to have received some in your division....lol.
If they are not set w/in some form of jewelry when found...they are like green musket balls to me. I think I'd keep the Musket balls before I would those emeralds...lol
This goes for the few who know what I am trying to say...in a round'bout way.

coin or emerald...I'll take the coin.


Trez
 

I traded an Atocha emerald for a 31 foot sailing trimaran, then sold it for enough $ to completely outfit myself with top of the line Nikon digital cameras, wide angle lens, strobes and underwater housing. Plus I still had a bunch of $ left over.
In the past I have traded loot for 3 cars and two other boats as well as countless other items.
A friend of mine traded Atocha stock and treasure for a 46 ft. Chris Craft and a seaplane.
Mel Fisher used to say, " You just keep adding zero's till it looks right, and Zeros just mean nothing."
Splash,
Donovan
 

OK........
That is the exception...not the general rule. ;)


and of course booty is a fantasic way to barter....I totally agree 100%.

The Emeralds must be of extreme high color and quality...and the size of a small egg would help :D ;).

throw in a few hundred 8 reales and other pieces....and sail away taking digital photos all day long.

me jealous...congrat's

0's.........................love it, and Mel.

Trez
 

Trez,
It was a 4.6 K rough stone. About the size of a pencil eraser. Emeralds are ROUGH.... fish are raw.
Cheers,
Donovan
 

With my luck so far I am not going to trade for anything unless the seller can verify the item is not a fake or counterfiet.
I have a GEM CRYSTAL that is CORUNDUM which means that is could be a Sapphire or a Ruby. It is 2" long and a little over 1" wide. It has not been treated or cut or even polished in anyway. I even had the crystal x-rayed and there are no cracks anywhere.
At least I know this is not a FAKE.
Since I do not know what to do with it I use it for a paperweight ;D :o.
As far as Emeralds are concerned I cannot believe that any JUNK stones were shippid out of Colombia no matter what the carat size was.
PEGLEG
 

PEG
I don't know what the Atocha numbers are today but several years ago there were something like a thousand High quality stones and about five thousand low quality.There are a lot more by now.
The stones found on the Wedge wreck, I was told, are low quality.
Color, clarity, size and other factors determine value. The low quality stones are generally light in color and have lots of inclusions in the stones. These inclusions are called Gardens or jardines and some of them are quite beautiful.
The Spanish definitely separated their stones by quality. One area of the wrecksite has lots of good stones whereas the lower grade stones are primarily from another area.
Cheers,
Donovan
 

SEAHUNTER said:
Hi Pegleg
Many years ago Mel told me that he believed that one of the ships from the 1715 fleet that had not yet been located was carrying 660 chests of emeralds.
Seahunter
Click to expand...

SEAHUNTER - Did Mel name the ship he believed was carrying the emeralds?

Tom
 

For some reason the Rio Mar wreck comes to mind, but I will find out for sure. I have read this somewhere lately but cant place it right now.

Robert in SC
 

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RGecy said:
For some reason the Rio Mar wreck comes to mind, but I will find out for sure. I have read this somewhere lately but cant place it right now.

Robert in SC
Click to expand...

I am pretty sure Rio Mar was known for the pearls, not emeralds.

Trez
 

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