00:00For years, the world's most valuable shipwreck was just a legend, until now.
00:06It has finally been found, and among the wreckage was a real treasure worth $1.1 billion.
00:13To understand this better, we need to go back to 1622.
00:17That year, the mighty Spanish galleon, Nuestra Señora de Atocha, set sail from Havana,
00:24packed with riches belonging both to King Philip IV of Spain and to the wealthy members of the crew.
00:30We're talking about gold, silver, copper, and emeralds from Colombia, Peru, Mexico, and Venezuela.
00:37The cargo was so large, totaling more than 40 tons, and so vast that it took two months to transport it to the ship.
00:45The ship was also packed with people. There were 265 people on board.
00:51At first, everything went well.
00:53But then came the Florida Straits, and trouble.
00:57The crew found themselves lost in the night that was not only cold, but also stormy.
01:02And before long, they were facing a powerful hurricane.
01:05The wind tore the masts apart, giant waves destroyed the rudder,
01:10and soon, the Atocha was sinking toward the darkness of the seabed.
01:14The disaster that night meant a huge loss of wealth for King Philip IV.
01:19But even worse was the loss of life.
01:21Of the original 265 crew members, only five survived.
01:27They managed to climb up the mizzen of the ship, the only part that remained above water.
01:32With all that treasure gone, the Spanish were quick to spring into action and devised a salvage operation.
01:39Five ships were sent to recover the cargo.
01:42The plan seemed simple and easy.
01:44After all, the hatches were securely locked, so the treasure could still be there.
01:48But almost immediately, things went wrong.
01:52For example, one of the five ships ran aground before it could even begin its journey.
01:57In the end, the search dragged on for 60 years, and many factors contributed to the mission's failure.
02:02That may not seem so bad today, but back then, divers didn't have the technology or safety equipment that we have today.
02:12Exploring the seabed was risky, and more often than not, it led nowhere.
02:16While searching for the Atocha, the rescuers found traces of another vessel, the Santa Margarita, the Atocha's sister ship.
02:26Another hurricane passed through the region a month after the sinking.
02:29The seabed became a jigsaw puzzle with pieces of the ship scattered everywhere.
02:35The rescue mission became almost impossible.
02:37Over time, the Spanish managed to recover part of the Santa Margarita's cargo, but Atocha's treasure seemed lost forever.
02:46Even so, no one forgot that story.
02:49Then, in 1969, more than 300 years after the sinking, everything began to change.
02:55An experienced deep-sea diver, Mel Fisher, stepped in and decided to rewrite history.
03:01Mel had already spent a big part of his life at the bottom of the sea.
03:04He and his wife even ran a diving school in California.
03:09So, Mel gathered his family and moved to the other side of the country.
03:13He led a new team of hunters whose mission was clear, to find the lost treasure of the legendary Atocha.
03:20They had little more than a boat, some diving equipment, and metal detectors, but that was enough to get them started.
03:27They focused on a region called the Matakumbe Keys, mentioned in several 17th-century documents.
03:33In the first year, they traveled more than 100,000 miles, but found absolutely nothing.
03:39It seemed like an impossible dream.
03:42But Mel still had a card up his sleeve.
03:46Eugene Lyon
03:47A historian who would change the course of the search.
03:52Eugene delved into the Spanish archives in search of clues about the shipwreck.
03:56It was there that he found an important document that mentioned a group of people trying to save it.
04:02On the last page, it was mentioned that an area 100 miles from where Mel was searching had been the scene of the main exploration.
04:11This little piece of information was the needle in the haystack they needed.
04:15They rerouted the ship and soon arrived at the new location.
04:18But there was a challenge.
04:21That part of the ocean was deeper and the visibility there was almost zero.
04:25It was difficult to see your own hands.
04:28However, Mel knew how to deal with the adversities of diving and came up with a simple and brilliant solution.
04:34He installed two large tubes on the boat called letterboxes.
04:39Those tubes could be lowered in front of the propellers.
04:41The idea was ingenious.
04:44They sucked clean water from the surface and directed it to the bottom of the sea, exactly where the divers were.
04:49This technique not only cleared the murky water, but also helped to reveal objects that had been hidden for centuries.
04:56And still, the search took 16 years.
05:00During that time, Fisher found many lost items.
05:04Then, in 1971, they discovered a huge anchor.
05:08This was the first clue that they were close to finding the Atocha.
05:12In the following days, more objects appeared.
05:15Cups, swords, and ancient nails turned up.
05:18To keep everything organized, the team created a circular map.
05:22On it, they marked the exact location of each item they found.
05:26They also used radio transmitters on land and a receiver on the boat, which allowed them to know precisely where they were.
05:32The system was so efficient that it could measure the position with a margin of error of just one foot.
05:39Over time, a line began to form on the map, pointing to where the Atocha's main treasure might be hidden.
05:46They followed this trail for two years.
05:49Just when they were starting to lose hope, they found silver bars.
05:53It was the year 1973.
05:55This opened the door to much bigger discoveries.
05:58The silver alone was worth over $100,000, but the real treasure was yet to come.
06:04On July 20, 1985, valuables that would be worth around $1.1 billion today were finally discovered in the main hull of the ship.
06:15The treasure included 180,000 silver coins, 24 tons of silver bars, 125 gold bars, a collection of pearls, and 66 pounds of emeralds.
06:27Some of these finds were priceless, not only because they were rare, but because of their history.
06:33The Atocha Cross, the Royal Orb, and the Atocha Ring, three royal artifacts, were found in near-perfect condition.
06:41The Atocha Cross was the most valuable of all the artifacts.
06:44It had nine brilliant green emeralds set in 22-karat gold, a true treasure from the past, shining once again after centuries underwater.
06:54Soon after the discovery, the state of Florida thought, wait a second, we want a piece of that treasure.
07:01They went to court, demanding a whopping 25% of the value.
07:06A bitter legal battle ensued, and it lasted eight years.
07:09It even went all the way to the Supreme Court.
07:12But in the end, treasure hunter Mel emerged victorious.
07:15He was even invited to The Tonight Show, showing off a massive gold chain found in the wreckage, wrapped around his waist like a belt.
07:25People called it the money chain, and for good reason.
07:29The find was so big that the wreck was declared the world's most valuable by the Guinness Book of Records in 2014.
07:35After the initial excitement, Mel sold some of the gems, but the bulk of the treasure remained in the family for a while.
07:44What was left was auctioned off.
07:46No one knows exactly how much the jewels were sold for, but one thing is for sure.
07:50Their value has skyrocketed over the years, and it's not just about the sparkle.
07:55It's about the legend that lives behind them.
07:57Today, these treasures are part of the particular Muzo collection, the largest private collection of the Atocha artifacts in the world.
08:07And no, they're not for sale.
08:09But the good news is that you can still see them.
08:12They're on display, shining brightly in homage to Colombia's rich history and the famous mine from which they came.
08:18The people behind them say that these emeralds are as iconic as the rubies of Mogok or the sapphires of Kashmir.
08:26And honestly, they're right.
08:27That's it for today.
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