Treasure hunters combing Florida's aptly named Treasure Coast have struck gold, uncovering over 1,000 gold and silver coins from the 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet. Salvagers with Queens Jewels, LLC, announced the haul—over a thousand silver "Reales" and five gold "Escudos," plus rare gold artifacts—valued at roughly $1 million, per CBS News. The coins were hidden under centuries of sand after the Spanish Treasure Fleet was wrecked by a hurricane more than 300 years ago. The disaster, one of the most infamous in maritime history, sent an estimated $400 million in treasure to the ocean floor.
It's the first major coin discovery from the fleet in more than three decades, credited to Capt. Levin Shavers and his team during the summer season. Historians and collectors alike will be intrigued by the condition of the coins, many of which retain clear dates and mint marks. "We've seen coins from 1698 all the way up to 1714," salvor Levin Shavers tells Treasure Coast Newspapers. The silver coins, known as pieces of eight, can be traced to colonial mints in Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia.
Some experts suggest the silver haul may have come from a single chest, lost as the ship broke apart during the storm. "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," said Queens Jewels' operations director Sal Guttuso. "Finding 1,000 of them in a single recovery is both rare and extraordinary." The state of Florida will take up to 20% of the haul, with the rest distributed among salvors.
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