Gold, Silver Coins Found In 1715 Shipwreck

Above, silver coins and artifacts on display at the Key West Shipwreck Treasures Museum. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Some divers became millionaires when they discovered a treasure trove of silver and gold coins from a 1715 Spanish shipwreck off the coast of Florida.

The Palm Beach Post reported:

SEBASTIAN, FL — More than 1,000 silver coins and five gold coins worth about $1 million were recovered from a 1715 Spanish shipwreck off the coast of Florida, a shipwreck salvage company said.

On Sept. 30, 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels LLC announced that over 1,000 silver coins known as "reales" were recovered by Captain Levin Shavers and the crew of M/V (motor vessel) "Just Right" off the southeast region of Florida, widely known as Treasure Coast. Five gold coins called "escudos" were also recovered in a separate find.

The company's discovery is part of a "vast fortune carried by the fleet, which was transporting New World riches back to Spain" when a hurricane struck on July 31, 1715, according to a news release. The company said historians estimate that about $400 million worth of gold, silver, and jewels were lost in the storm. 

To read more, go here.