Hidden beneath the turquoise waters off a stretch of Florida known as the “Treasure Coast,” a team of divers from a shipwreck salvage company have uncovered exactly that — a load of long-lost Spanish treasure[1] they estimate is worth $1 million.
More than 1,000 silver and gold coins thought to be minted in the Spanish colonies of Bolivia, Mexico and Peru were uncovered this summer off Florida’s Atlantic coast, 1715 Fleet – Queens Jewels LLC announced this week.
It’s not the first time the site has yielded a trove of, well, treasure.
Centuries ago, a fleet of Spanish ships laden with gold, silver and jewels taken from the New World was sailing back to Spain when a hurricane wrecked the flotilla on July 31, 1715, spilling the treasures into the sea, according to the 1715 Fleet Society.
Over the years, millions of dollars in gold coins from the 1715 Fleet have been found[2] by salvagers and treasure hunters in a coastal area stretching from Melbourne to Fort Pierce.
Dates and mint marks are still visible on some of the recently recovered coins, the salvage company said, a benefit for historians and collectors hoping to glean more from the lost treasure.
Under Florida law, any “treasure trove” or other historic artifacts “abandoned” on state-owned lands or in state waters belong to the state, though excavators can be permitted to carry out “recovery services.” The law requires that roughly 20% of the recovered archaeological materials be retained by the state for research collections or public display.
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Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
References
- ^ long-lost Spanish treasure (apnews.com)
- ^ have been found (apnews.com)