Salvage crews make staggering discovery after boarding 300-year-old Florida shipwreck
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Featured Image Credit: 1715 Fleet – Queens Jewels
A historic salvage operation of an ancient shipwreck has made a bewildering discovery of real-life buried treasure.
In the murky depths of Florida's Treasure Coast, a hefty loot of treasure has been sitting for more than 300 years inside a wreck of a sunken Spanish fleet.
Captain Levin Shavers and his crew salvaged an impressive sum of gold and silver coins from the shipwreck, which occurred during a hurricane in July 1715, from under 'centuries of sand and sea' just this summer.
According to a news release from Queens Jewels, LLC, which owns the salvage rights to the fleet, the archaeological find uncovered 1,000 silver coins called 'Reales' as well as five gold coins, 'Escudos', and other rare gold artefacts, estimated to be worth an eye-watering $1 million.
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Incredibly, the coins, known as pieces of eight, still had legible dates and mint marks from when they were minted in Mexico, Peru and Bolivia, even after sitting on the seabed for centuries.
The condition of the riches is so great that experts believe they could have been sitting inside a chest or a shipment that erupted when the ship became ensnared by the hurricane.
The Spanish fleet was taking a vast fortune back home when the storm tore the ship apart.
Roughly $400 million worth in gold, silver and jewels is believed to have gone down with the ship during its voyage to bring New World riches back to Spain, earning the stretch of eastern coastline its iconic moniker as the 'Treasure Coast.'
The sinking of the Spanish fleet is considered one of the 'greatest maritime tragedies - and treasures' of the Americas, and now this unprecedented discovery adds another chapter to its story.
“This discovery is not only about the treasure itself, but the stories it tells,” Sal Guttuso, Director of Queens Jewels, said in a statement.
Sal added: “Each coin is a piece of history, a tangible link to the people who lived, worked, and sailed during the Golden Age of the Spanish Empire. Finding 1,000 of them in a single recovery is both rare and extraordinary."
Now, the coins are being processed for 'careful conservation' before going on to display in local museums across the Sunshine State, to allow both Floridians and visitors the chance to 'witness firsthand the treasures of Florida's maritime past.'
Sal continued: "Every find helps piece together the human story of the 1715 fleet.
"We are committed to preserving and studying these artifacts so future generations can appreciate their historical significance."