Living Information

Hernando Cortes conquered the Aztec Indians and Mexico for Spain in 1519, thereby changing the course of world events forever. Renewed interest in the history of the Cortes Conquest of Mexico and his personal life has been spurred by a small team of explorers, commissioned by descendants of a noble family, to locate the wreckage of a sunken ship.

The tale of their discovery is every bit as dramatic as the events that surrounded the accumulation of one of the most extensive fortunes in emeralds, jewelry, Aztec and Mayan artifacts, gold and silver bullion and coins ever gleaned from the New World.

For adventurers Victor Benilous and his wife Sue, discovery of the treasure was inevitable, but even they were surprised by the extent of their finds and accuracy of the psychic phenomena that led their expedition almost exactly to the shipwreck.

It all began when Victor Benilous, President of Archaeological Discovery Ventures, Inc. was approached with the story of the emerald associated with Queen Isabella of Spain. At first the story did not match any historical facts. Queen Isabella died in 1504, the same year that Hernando Cortes sailed for the New World.

It was not Ferdinand's wife, rather it was the wife of Charles the fifth, Queen Isabella of Portugal, that established the association with the Emerald.

The Queen Isabella Emerald is a cut, 964 carat deep green oblong stone, so large that it overlaps the palm of the human hand. The gem has been described in books about Cortes as a wedding gift for his second wife, Dona Juana de Zuniga, a gift that Queen Isabella of Portugal envied. Isabella told Cortes, while he visited the King and Queen at Court, that she desired the gem, a stone of incredible value as it is now. Cortes may have affronted Queen Isabella, as he presented this emerald and other stones to Dona Juana, regardless of the Queen's desires. Thus began a great mystery that was to remain unsolved for more than four centuries.

We know that Dona Juana de Zuniga followed her husband to Mexico on numerous voyages. Emeralds were regularly being sent back to Spain. The Zuniga family were second cousins to the King and received many land grants from the Crown. While the history of the Cortes family remains clouded, Cortes himself died in 1557. The salvage team's research revealed information that convinced them that they were on the right track.

Knowing that, a courier came from Spain to the New World in 1756. This was more than 200 years after the death of Cortes. We believe the courier was to bring the Zuniga family fortune back to Spain so they could use the gems to entice the Crown to give the family more favors in land grants. He was returning to Spain with a small, fast ship. According to the ship's manifest, the cargo included a hundred chests of emeralds.

The ship carrying the treasure caught fire on its way back to Spain. They were out to sea and the only information about its position was made by another captain who saw the ship burning and reported it had been a certain number of hours since they were in sight of land.

From this point on the sensational history of the shipwreck discovery becomes even more extraordinary. The information they had was not enough to start an expedition. Two psychics working independently were each sent a map. The maps were marked in nearly the exact same spot by each psychic. One of the psychics was brought on the expedition and seven sites were located. They used side-scan sonar, and a bottom profiler. The instruments identified three anchors of the Spanish Colonial Period. The divers went down and, within ten feet of where they were buoyed, the place identified by the psychic, They discovered a crystal skull.

The carved Aztec crystal skulls were only part of an incredible treasure of Indian artifacts unearthed by the divers, including 25,000 carats of cut emeralds. Among the Indian artifacts are magnificent examples of whistles, some embedded with gold, some still bearing the traces of red paint. Pottery jars along with ceremonial gold ornaments came up with the finds.

The team continued to proceed cautiously. Having found what they were commissioned to locate they indicate that they may assign future rights in the shipwreck to others willing to exploit it under contract. While the salvors will not disclose the exact depth of the wreck, they have said it is very deep, requiring special expertise and technology to explore. They have indicated that the wreckage is some twelve miles offshore of the Florida coast somewhere between Sebastion and Cape Canaveral.

While the team remains purposefully vague about the exact location of their finds, one thing is clear - they have located what is perhaps the single most important treasure wreck ever discovered. Valuations are difficult when it comes to unique pieces like the Isabella Emerald. The gem, already authenticated by a former University of Chicago lapidary professor, may be worth upwards of $20 million. The Aztec artifacts are unique pieces and are priceless. The gold and silver jewelry along with the cut emeralds recovered are worth millions today.

Natural emeralds have increased in value 1500% over the last 20 years and top quality emeralds currently sell as high as $24,000 per carat. Natural emeralds have what is commonly referred to as a garden growing through them, each garden is unique just as no two persons have the same fingerprints. Natural emeralds larger than 4 carats are extremely rare. The emeralds that are part of the "Isabella Emerald Treasure Collection" are 100% natural and have not been treated, dyed, sealed or enhanced in any way.

"99% of all emeralds today are dyed and treated"
----quoted from the American Gem Cutter, April 1993.

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