Treasure at Treasure Coast! Divers find $1 million in gold coins from centuries-old Spanish shipwreck in Florida

A team of divers from a shipwreck salvage company found treasure at Treasure Coast off Florida in the US. They estimate the Spanish gold and silver coins to be worth $1 million, AP reported.
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More than a thousand silver and gold coins believed to be minted in the Spanish colonies of Bolivia, Mexico and Peru were uncovered during the summer off Florida's Atlantic coast, 1715 Fleet – Queens Jewels LLC announced this week.

It is not the first time treasure has been found here.


It all comes from a Spanish fleet carrying gold, silver and jewels from the New World to Spain that sailed and sunk due to a hurricane on July 31, 1715, spilling the treasures into the sea, according to the 1715 Fleet Society.

Millions of dollars in gold coins from the 1715 Fleet have been found by salvagers and treasure hunters in a coastal area stretching from Melbourne to Fort Pierce over the years.

Dates and mint marks are even visible on some of the recent discoveries, the salvage company said, a benefit for historians and collectors hoping to glean more from the lost treasure.

“This discovery is not only about the treasure itself, but the stories it tells,” Sal Guttuso, director of operations for the salvage company said in a statement.

“Each coin is a piece of history, a tangible link to the people who lived, worked, and sailed during the Golden Age of the Spanish Empire. Finding 1,000 of them in a single recovery is both rare and extraordinary.”

The company hires dive crews and fleet of boats. It uses underwater metal detectors, while divers also hand-fan sand or use sand suction to comb the sea floor, according to a public notice for a federal permit application the company filed.

Last year, Florida officials announced that they had recovered dozens of gold coins stolen by salvagers from the wreck. The suspect was a family member of the team contracted by 1715 Fleet – Queens Jewels LLC to work the site.

Any treasure or historic artefacts that are found belong to Florida, under the state's law. It requires that roughly 20 per cent of the recovered archaeological materials be retained by the state for research collections or public display.

(With inputs from AP)