Home News Fla. family finds $1M of sunken Spanish treasure (Video)

Fla. family finds $1M of sunken Spanish treasure (Video)

Jul 28, 2015

B9318236504Z.1_20150727153054_000_GHJBFBS39.1-0 — The 1715 Fleet is considered one of the most important maritime tragedies in history. Eleven galleons were laden with treasures from the New World and returning to Spain. The ships departed Havana, Cuba, on July 24 and were shipwrecked in a hurricane on July 31, 1715, on what is now known as Florida’s Treasure Coast. (Photo: 1715 FLEET — QUEENS JEWELS LLC)

By Jennifer Sangalang, Florida Today, USAToday, July 28, 2015 – MELBOURNE, Fla. — For a few weeks, the Schmitt family and 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels LLC had a million-dollar secret on their hands. Last month, they recovered $1 million worth of sunken Spanish coins and jewels off the Florida coast.

“The treasure was actually found a month ago,” said Brent Brisben of 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels LLC. Keeping the news under wraps was “particularly hard for the family that found it. They’ve been beside themselves.”

Recovered:

• 51 gold coins

• 40 feet of ornate gold chain

• A single coin called a Royal made for the king of Spain, Phillip V, a news release states. Only a few are known to exist, and the coin — nicknamed “Tricentennial Royal” — is dated 1715. Brisben said the extremely rare silver-dollar-sized coin is worth “probably around half a million dollars itself.”

Originally published by USAToday/FloridaToday on July 28, 2015