Treasure Hunters Find $4.5 mln in Rare Spanish Coins
Florida treasure hunters found a trove of $4.5 million worth of Spanish gold coins 300 years to the day after a fleet of ships sunk in a hurricane while en route from Havana to Spain, the salvage owner said Wednesday. The 350 coins found on July 30 include nine rare pieces, known as royal eight escudos, which were being transported to the King of Spain, according to Brent Brisben. His company, 1715 Fleet - Queens Jewels, owns the rights to the wreckage. Only 20 such coins were known to exist prior to the recovery of the nine royals, Brisben said.
BWVI Makes 1715 Shipwreck Discovery
Blue Water Ventures International, Inc.(BWVI) revealed that its salvage vessel, the M/V Endeavor, recovered a gold coin, numerous silver coins and other shipwreck related artifacts while working off the coast of Ft. Pierce, FL last week. Though a majority of its work is done in virgin territory on one of the 1715 Fleet wrecks site, known as Douglas Beach Wreck, BWVI’s Captain John Brandon and the M/V Endeavor crew made the discovery during the exploration of an excavated area of the site.
Family Finds Sunken Treasure Off Florida Coast
A Florida family scavenging for sunken treasure on a shipwreck has found the missing piece of a 300-year-old gold filigree necklace sacred to Spanish priests, officials said on Tuesday. Eric Schmitt, a professional salvager, was scavenging with his parents when he found the crumpled, square-shaped ornament on a leisure trip to hunt for artifacts in the wreckage of a convoy of 11 ships that sank in 1715 during a hurricane off central Florida's east coast. After the discovery last month, a team of Spanish historians realized the piece fit together with another artifact recovered 25 years ago. It formed an accessory called a pyx, worn on a chain around a high priest's neck to carry the communion host. The dollar value is uncertain.
