The Old Man and the Shipwreck Coin

This is a true story.

The Old Man and the Shipwreck Coin

Sometimes inspiration is found in the most unlikely places.

While visiting Seattle a few years ago, I met a stranger who changed my life. I was out in the city one afternoon and I noticed a very old man hobbling along in my direction. As I smiled at him in passing, he winked, and I caught a glimmer of gold and silver dangling from his neck, just below his snowy white beard. Curious, I pointed to the unusual medallion he was wearing. “Excuse me, your necklace is beautiful,” I said. “What is it?”

With a sparkle in his eye, the old man brushed his fingers across the gleaming silver coin which had been set in gold. “This,” he said, “is my inspiration. Have you ever heard the story of Mel Fisher and the Atocha?

“The treasure ship?”

“Yes,” he nodded. “The Senor de Atocha was a Spanish treasure ship that went down on a reef in the Florida Keys in 1622, taking the souls of hundreds and two tons of silver and gold. Almost three hundred years later, a young man named Mel Fisher heard about the treasure and became obsessed with finding the Atocha. It became his life’s work and he searched for it his entire adult life. He was so certain that the treasure was out there, he moved his family onto a houseboat and spent every dime he had looking for the lost ship. Despite his financial problems and the death of his son and another dear friend who died in the search, Mel Fisher refused to give up on his dream, and after 20 years he found the Atocha, recovering the largest shipwreck in history.

“Wow,” I smiled, admiring the gleaming Spanish coin. “It’s beautiful.”

“That, it is,” he nodded, “but that isn’t why I wear it.”

“Why then?” I asked curiously.

“I wear this coin so I never forget to follow my own dreams,” he smiled wistfully. The old man turned and shuffled away, leaving me wondering what dreams might be running through his head.

Last year, I was in the Caribbean and happened to stop into a jeweler’s shop to take shelter from a passing storm. After browsing for a few moments, I noticed something gleaming from beneath the display case. Not only was it a salvaged treasure galleon from the Atocha, but it was encased in a gold setting identical to the one the old man had been wearing. “I’d like to buy that,” I told the shopkeeper.

“It’s a beautiful piece,” he said as I draped the coin around my neck.

“It is, but that isn’t why I bought it,” I winked.

To this day, I wear the treasure coin around my neck and share the story of the old man with everyone who asks about it. This unusual token is a constant source of inspiration and serves as a reminder to persevere toward my goals, no matter what the odds are.

But is gets even better. Just a few months ago I was on a plane and a woman passed by me in the aisle. I noticed that she was wearing a similar coin around her neck. I asked her if it was from the Atocha and she said with a smile that it was. I showed her my coin and I told her the story of how I came across mine. As we talked, there was a young man sitting a few rows away who approached us and showed us his coin from the Atocha that he was wearing around his neck!

That day I met two wonderful strangers on the plane, both of whom were wearing coins from the same shipwreck for the same reason that I was - a reminder follow dreams no matter what the obstacles.

Bluebird