Noted Florida Keys marine archaeologist, author and retired professor R. Duncan Mathewson details the archaeological recovery process he led on the famed 1622 shipwreck Nuestra Senora de Atocha at the 3rd International Convention of Historians and Numismatists, in Cartagena, Colombia. CAROL TEDESCO/Contributed
Two Florida Keys shipwreck, archaeology and antique coin experts recently spent a week in Cartagena, Colombia for Cartagena MMXXI – the 3rd International Convention of Historians and Numismatists. (A numismatist specializes in coins and currency, says Wikipedia.)
R. Duncan Mathewson and Carol Tedesco discussed their work and research on Nuestra Senora de Atocha, the Spanish galleon that wrecked off Key West in 1622 loaded with silver and gold coins, emeralds and other treasure recovered by Mel Fisher’s “Golden Crew” of treasure divers in 1985.
The convention attracted historians and numismatists from more than 20 countries on three continents.
On the roof of the historic Casa de la Moneda (currency minting house) in Cartagena, Colombia are Bolivia-based Daniel Oropeza Alba, convention co-founder; Florida-based archival research expert Jorge Proctor; Key West and Gainesville-based shipwreck coin and coin curation expert Carol Tedesco; and Spain-based Glenn Stephen Murray Fantom, historian and numismatist. DANIEL OROPEZA ALBA/Contributed
