Well, my husband and I were on our honeymoon and stopped by the Mel Fisher museum in Key West as one of the ports of call on our cruise. He had already bought a watch at about $150 and said I could have anything I wanted for that amount. When we got to the museum shop, there were authentic shipwreck coins (in this case silver pieces dated 1783, part of "the shipwreck that changed the world" in that it forced Spain to sell the Louisiana territory which in turn was sold to us) that I was looking at. However, I declined because it seemed to me that these were cleaned and polished and who knows what else before going on sale there. Most were fitted into jewelry, and I'm more interested in numismatistical value than in something jewelry-beautiful.

I suppose what I'm asking is, how do I go about researching/purchasing shipwrecked (and usually cleaned or more) before I commit to a buy I might regret (I have never spent more than $25 on a single coin before)?

Good eye and mind. I bet you were right about the polish/damage that has been done.

To be honest, I think I was just trying to weasel myself out of spending that much money :wink:

Whatever you were trying to do you made the right choice by not buying There is not one coin in that shop that is not overpriced by 400%. For that matter, any coin attirbuted to Mel Fischer is over priced by a similar amount - or worse.

As a general rule, you don't want to buy sea salvage silver - salt water corrodes silver and the coins are always damaged. It's just a question of severity. Gold on the other hand is not damaged by salt water and you can find some nice treasure pieces. Yes you will pay a bit more for them because of the shipwreck pedigree. But in some cases, like the ducats I used to collect, the entire mintage for a given year/mint went down with the ship. So if you want that particular coin you buy the treasure piece or not at all.

I was just there a couple weeks ago and I had the same thoughts (overprice, overcleaned). But at the same time it was soooo tempting to get something. Something about ship wreck treasure just sounds cool, and heck, how often does a Californian make it to Key West!

But fortunately I, like you, managed to resist...

Honestly I like the history behind shipwreck coins, and own a 1654 8 reale from the Maravilla shipwreck.


And yes it's corroded and ugly, but I really like it. I love coins that tell a story, or a coin that has a "life" to it. Personally I would never pay more for a coin because it was a shipwrecked coin, but I would pay the price of a nice grade example for a shipwrecked coin. But then again, this guy didn't cost much compared to most of the ones I see. I think it was less than $75.

Mel Fisher is a fascinating man and story. I remember watching a TV special on him years ago, probably close to 10 years.

Maybe 6 or 7 years ago, I bought a lot of 2 "sea salvaged" 1836 half eagles certified by ANACS with AU details. They were not from any named shipwreck, and certainly with gold, the sea doesn't cause nearly so much damage. I ended up selling one and nearly paying for both with the proceeds not long after I bought them, but I still have the nicer one. It always fascinates me to look at it and wonder where it's been!