Carol Tedesco| Lima Mint Coins Recovered From the Shipwrecks Nuestra Senora de A
Thu Jan 24, 6:00 PM - Thu Jan 24, 7:00 PM

Presented by Carol Tedesco
By 1622, little more than a century after Columbus’ first voyage, Spain’s pursuit of riches, glory, and souls to convert had resulted in the conquest of much of the Caribbean, Mexico, and other parts of the Americas – the New World. Silver was the most abundant treasure of “the Indies” and royal mints were established in key areas to process and regulate a seemingly inexhaustible torrent of silver pouring from the mines.To control and document the resource, silver was shipped to the Kingdom of Spain in the form of coins and ingots. In September of 1622, with hurricane season upon them, the 28 vessel Tierra Firme fleet prepared to depart the port of Havana, Cuba for Spain. Two of the vessels in the fleet were the Nuestra Señora de Atocha and Santa Margarita, which were shipwrecked in the Florida Straits and discovered in the 1980’s by divers working for famed treasure hunter Mel Fisher. For decades Key Wester’s and people around the world have collected silver coins from the Atocha and Santa Margarita, most of which originated in Potosi, Bolivia – then part of the Viceroyalty of Peru. But there were coins from other New and Old World mints onboard as well, including a relatively minuscule number from the Lima mint.Already from three decades to a half-century old when the 1622 ships sailed, Lima mint coins in the Atocha collection were always categorized as very rare. In “Lima Mint Coins Recovered from the Nuestra Señora de Atocha and Santa Margarita” Carol Tedesco will explain how time proved them to be much more rare than anyone originally thought.Representing Key West Art & Historical Society, Carol debuted “Lima Mint Coins Recovered from the Nuestra Señora de Atocha and Santa Margarita” at Arequipa 2018, the Second International Conference of Historians and Numismatists in Arequipa, Peru.An internationally recognized shipwreck-recovered coin expert, her accomplishments have been recognized with membership in the Explorer’s Club. She is author of “Treasure Coins of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha and the Santa Margarita,” numerous archaeological mystery articles, and the monograph, “The Deep-Sea Dry Tortugas Shipwreck, Florida (1622): the Silver Coins.Portions of her presentation ar