The ships remained underwater near what is now Florida for over 300 years.
Another vessel, the Santa Margarita, met the same fate. The Atocha was a vessel commissioned to support Spanish colonization, and it was returning from an expedition in Havana when it ran into the hurricane and sank. Soon, that emerald will be sold at Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels auction, where it is expected to fetch between $50,000 and $70,000. In 1622, a ship called the Nuestra Señora de Atocha sank in a hurricane-with a 6.25-carat emerald, among many other treasures, on board.
