A team of treasure hunters has uncovered gold coins worth $4.5 million from a 300-year-old Spanish shipwreck off Florida's Atlantic coast, marking one of the most significant finds from the 1715 Fleet in recent decades.
Diver William Bartlett discovered the first coin while exploring the wreck with a metal detector late last month. He soon found so many that he stuffed them into his diving glove. Over the next two days, Bartlett, boat captain Jonah Martinez, and fellow hunter Dan Beckingham recovered 350 coins.
The 1715 Fleet, comprising 11 ships laden with treasure, was heading from Havana to Spain when a hurricane struck off Florida's central coast on 31 July 1715. The ships were wrecked on reefs, with up to 1,000 lives lost in one of colonial Spain's worst maritime disasters in the region.
The discovery comes on the 300th anniversary of the sinking, and hunters believe there is a magical element to the find. Brent Brisben, whose salvage company Queens Jewels owns the rights to the site, said he now believes in an energy surrounding the wrecks. The state of Florida is entitled to 20% of artifacts for display, with the remainder split between Brisben's company and the finders.
An estimated $400 million in coins remains undiscovered along Florida's Treasure Coast, stretching from Melbourne to Fort Pierce. Subcontractors, who cover their own expenses of up to $50,000 per summer, continue to search the site.
