Treasure hunters discover gold, silver coins worth $1 million from 1715 Spanish shipwreck off Florida's Coast

Divers have recovered a remarkable trove of more than 1,000 Spanish silver and gold coins from a shipwreck off the Atlantic coast of Florida. The treasure, which researchers believe dates back over 300 years, has been estimated to be worth as much as $1 million, reported USA Today.

The report added that the treasure was recovered by 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels LLC, a company that has exclusive salvage rights to the 1715 Treasure Fleet shipwrecks. The coins, over 1000 silver reales and five escudos, were discovered by Captain Levin Shavers and his crew aboard the vessel ‘Just Right’ while exploring the seabed near Sebastian Inlet.

Sal Guttuso, the company’s operations director, told the publication, “This discovery is not only about the treasure itself but also the stories it tells.” Sal added that each coin was a tangible link to the Golden Age of the Spanish Empire. “Finding over 1,000 in a single recovery is extraordinary,” Sal said.

Legacy of 1715 Treasure Fleet

The 1715 Fleet was a convoy of 11 Spanish ships carrying immense riches from the New World back to Spain. On July 31, 1715, a powerful hurricane struck the fleet off Florida’s coast, sinking the ships and spilling an estimated $400 million worth of gold, silver, and jewels into the sea, according to another report by Global News.

The disaster took the lives of fellowmen of about 1000 people, and the survivors were washed ashore on the beach currently known as the Treasure Coast, the report added.

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Even though the Spanish authority recovered some of the treasure in the 18th century, the bulk of it remained lost for centuries, sustaining a long tradition of professional and amateur treasure hunting in Florida.

Conservation before display

Each of the newly found coins will undergo conservation in Queen Jewels’ laboratory. Using a reverse electrolysis process, marine encrustations and salts will be carefully removed. High-resolution photography and detailed cataloguing will follow, noting mint marks, dates, and origins.

State officials will then review the artifacts. By Florida law, the state retains up to 20 percent of recovered finds for research or public display, while the remainder is split among the salvors, stated an AP report.

A rare discovery

The state of the coins indicates they may have once been kept in a sack or chest. Shavers said there were burlap fibers crusted on some of the coins, and it led him to believe there could be additional coins that were in the immediate vicinity, the AP report added.

"This is the largest recovery of coins since 1990," said fellow salvor Michael Perna. "When we find artifacts like this, it reminds us the ocean is still full of surprises after centuries."

The artifacts that have been recovered will eventually be displayed in Florida museums.

FAQs

Q1: How much is the recovered treasure worth?

The coins are valued at approximately $1 million.

Q2: Where did the coins originate?

They were minted in Spanish colonies in Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia.

Q3: Who owns the treasure?

Queens Jewels holds salvage rights, but Florida law requires the state to retain up to 20% of recovered artifacts. The rest is divided among the salvage crew.