Would you pick up a silver bar….that’s cursed? : Cursed Silver from Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas

In Key West, Florida, When people think of curses the first that comes to mind is Robert the Doll at the Fort East Martello Museum. Robert is said to cause misfortune to those that disrespect him or take photos without his permission. While Robert has most of the clout in Florida it does overshadow one allegedly cursed item located in the Key West Shipwreck Museum. This item however is to be associated with the deaths of hundreds of men a few centuries ago. 

Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas 

In 1656, Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas fleet carried precious cargo with treasures, gold jewelry and silver. During a storm in the Grand Bahama, the vessel crashed into rocks when the ship attempted to dock the vessel on Little Bahama Bank.

The high winds caused the ship to crash so badly that it broke apart. Over 600 men were aboard; at the end, only 45 survived. 

For 350 years, the treasure from the sunken ship remained at the bottom of the sea until divers retrieved it in the 1990’s.

Rumors of the treasure being cursed began to emerge. 

Is The Treasure Cursed?

One of the treasures, the silver bar from the ship, made its way to the Key West Shipwreck Museum. Stories of the treasure being cursed stemmed from the fact that this maritime disaster had an unusually high body count. 

The Museum dares visitors to lift the silver bar to test the curse. Would you dare to lift it? Or is it just a tall sea tale?

My Encounter With The Cursed Bar

While on a ghost tour in 2025, our group went to the Key West Shipwreck Museum and our group was told this story. We were allowed to lift the bar. I lifted the bar and……..I don’t think anything happened. The only thing that sort of happened was a couple days later Loco Coco and I were riding on jet skis. On a wave, Both of us were bumped off into the water and I lost a pair of sunglasses. I don’t know if it had to do with the curse, but if it did and that was the worst thing to happen, I guess both of us survived it.