Topline
A ring set with an emerald that was rediscovered on a Spanish shipwreck nearly 400 years after being lost sold for $1.2 million at auction, with all proceeds set to be donated to humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.
emerald ring found in the Atocha wreck is on display during a press preview at Sotheby’s on November … [+]
Key Facts
The ring sold to an anonymous buyer for far more than expected, more than 15 times as much as the $70,000 high-end estimate of the auction house.
The 6.25 carat emerald set in the ring was found aboard the famous Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha when it sank in 1622 off the coast of present-day Florida amid a hurricane, killing almost everyone on board.
Diver and treasure hunter Mel Fisher announced in 1985 that his team had uncovered the main hull of the Atocha and recovered 180,000 coins, 24 tons of Bolivian silver, 125 bars of Caribbean gold bullion and rough-cut Colombian emeralds from the shipwreck.
A cut of the discovered hoard was given to late Perdue Farms CEO Frank Perdue, who helped fund the expedition, and who later had one of the emeralds found on board cut for the engagement ring he used to propose to his wife Mitzi in 1988.
Frank Perdue died in 2005, and this year Mitzi Perdue decided to sell the ring in order to raise money for humanitarian groups offering aid in Ukraine, saying in a statement her husband would “share my desire to help those in dire need.”
Mitzi Perdue will head to Ukraine this week, Sotheby’s said.
Big Number
$1.1 billion. That’s how much the Atocha’s treasure was estimated to be worth in 1985 ($400 million) adjusted for inflation today.
Key Background
The Atocha, built in Cuba in the 1600s, had been commissioned by a Spanish government agency that regulated colonization efforts to transport goods, and when it sank it had been loaded up with the belongings of noble passengers returning to Spain from Latin America. When Fisher announced he found the wreck, it was among the most successful treasure hunts in history, and Florida wanted a cut. The state said it had a claim on the wreck and had Fisher sign a contract that designated the state would take 25% of the treasure. After years of court battles, the Supreme Court ruled in 1982 that Florida did not have a stake in the treasure and declared the finders the full owners. The hoard was split up among the team and investors. Fisher died in 1998.
Further Reading
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2022/12/08/ring-with-emerald-recovered-from-400-year-old-shipwreck-raises-12-million-for-ukraine-at-auction/