![]() ''This discovery appears to show that this is the big one, the one people have been waiting for,'' James J. Knowledge? But by appearing to confirm the high archeological value of the sunken ship, the little gold ingot has also reignited a simmering debate over the ethics of a profit-driven business recovering what may be the most important undersea archeological site in the New World. The discovery of the gold ingot has delighted the Seahawk Company and its backers, who spent a year and millions of dollars preparing to recover the wreck from its resting place 1,500 feet below the Gulf Stream, in international waters about 75 miles southwest of Key West and 20 miles south of the Dry Tortugas Islands. ![]() According to colonial manifests in Spain, the latest sunken galleon may well have been carrying an even richer cargo, Mr. The Atocha carried jewels, bullion and artifacts estimated to value between $200 and $400 million. Bagley said, adding that no other gold ingot is known to have had a similar marking. That marking looks identical to the stamp on several gold ingots that were found in 1985 on the Atocha, another sunken Spanish galleon from the 1622 fleet, Mr. The gold bar bears a special stamp, its meaning unknown, that appears to spell either ''EN RADA'' or ''PLAN RADA.'' The burnished yellow ingot that was recovered this week appears to be nearly unique among the known objects of the Spanish colonial New World, according to archeologists.
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