Hidden under a turquoise water from a stretch in Florida known as the “Treasure Coast,” a team of divers from a shipwreck rescue company revealed just that.
More than 1,000 silver and gold coins thought to be covered in Spanish colonies in Bolivia, Mexico and Peru were discovered this summer off the Atlantic Coast of Florida, the 1715 Fleet – Queen’s Jewels LLC.
Centuries ago, according to the Fleet Association in 1715, fate had returned to Spain when the hurricanes destroyed the fleet’s ships and washed their treasures into the sea on July 31, 1715.
Over the years, millions of dollars of gold coins from the 1715 fleet have been discovered by salvers and treasure hunters in the coastal region ranging from Melbourne to Fort Pierce.
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The date and mint marks are still visible in some of the coins recently recovered. This is the benefit of historians and collectors who want to collect more from lost treasures.
“The discovery is not just about the treasure itself, but about the story it tells,” Sal Gutsso, operations director at Salvage, said in a statement. “Each coin is part of history and is a concrete link to those who lived, worked and sailed in the Golden Age of the Spanish Empire. It is rare and extraordinary to find 1,000 people in one recovery.”
Last year, Florida officials announced they had recovered dozens of gold coins stolen from a shipwreck by rescuers. The suspect was identified as the family of a team contracted to work on the site by the 1715 Fleet – Queen’s Jewels LLC.
Under Florida law, “treasures” or other historic artifacts belong to the state, which are “abandoned” in state land or state waters, but excavators can perform “recovery services.” The law requires that approximately 20% of the recovered archaeological material be retained by the state for research collections or public displays.
___Kate Payne is a legional member of the Associated Press/Reports’ American State University News Initiative. Report for America is a non-profit, national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on infiltrated issues.
