A Florida family announced they recovered $1 million worth of sunken treasure from the Spanish treasure fleet’s shipwrecks off the coast of Florida. Today also marks the 300th anniversary of the shipwrecks. The Schmitt family kept their findings a secret for nearly a month from the public, but finally held a press-conference to announce their discovery and allow the public to view photos of the recovered gold coins.
The Schmitts are subcontractors to 1715 Fleet – Queens Jewels LLC. Among the findings are 51 gold coins, 40 feet of intricate gold chain, and one extremely rare gold coin that is worth more than half a million dollars alone. This particular coin is “called a Royal made for the king of Spain, Phillip V.” A news release reports that only a few are known to exist and the coin, also called the “Tricentennial Royal,” bears the date 1715.
Brent Brisben and his father, William Brisben, manage all of the historic shipwreck salvage operations through Queens Jewels LLC. Brisben said he, the Schmitts, and the treasure will be featured Fox News on Wednesday morning.
Of the 11 ships that sank off the coast of Florida 300 years ago, Brisben said the 1715 Fleet “has positively identified six of those ships,” according to Florida Today.
“Five more are remaining,” Brisben said in a Florida Today article, “with an estimated $400 million worth of treasure still out there.”
While this isn’t your standard way to accumulate gold and silver coins, if you have the means, it could be an exciting way to go about it. There are still five ships out there!