Computer Divvies Up Treasure From Sunken Ship Off Florida
Investors and divers got computer printouts Thursday telling them what portion they will receive of $100 million in treasure recovered from a sunken Spanish galleon.
“Oh, oh my God. I got a beautiful emerald. A silver bar. Three silver bars,” said Sherrie Culpepper, manager of the gift shop in treasure hunter Mel Fisher’s museum.
Points were assigned to each of the hundreds of jewels, gold, silver and artifacts recovered last year from the Nuestra Senora de Atocha, which sank in a 1622 hurricane about 45 miles west of Key West.
600 Share Bounty
A computer randomly divided the bounty among about 600 investors and employees of Fisher’s company, Treasure Salvors Inc.
Each printout was sealed in a brown envelope as the computer printer spat it out. The envelopes were distributed Thursday by Taffi Fisher Quesada, Fisher’s daughter and the head of curating for his salvage operation.
“We all sweated together,” said Culpepper, one of the first to rip open a brown envelope. “It’s a dream come true. I mean I knew it (that she would get a portion of the treasure), but when you have it in your hand, you really know. I can’t believe it.”
Diver and boat captain Dick Cloudt teased the crowd of onlookers by reading slowly and calmly from his list. “I see copper. Silver. Lots of silver.”
At that point an impatient woman leaned over his shoulder, scanned the list and yelled: “I see an emerald.”
“So you think you’re a rich man?” someone else shouted.
Rich in Memories
“Richer maybe,” Cloudt said. “With all the people, we’ve been working together for so long. The memories and all, that makes me rich.”
Mel Joseph, one of the largest investors, scanned his list and announced plans to donate a portion to Delaware Technical and Community College in Georgetown, Del., to establish a museum.
Fisher, who will get about 5% of the treasure, was out of town. He donated part of his share to the nonprofit Mel Fisher Marine Heritage Society. The computer assigned the society an emerald of more than 77 carats, the largest of the 315 emeralds recovered.
Salvage on the Atocha continues, but is expected to end soon.
