It's a rare event for treasure hunters to find a wreck that contains artifacts that are worth millions of dollars.
But that's exactly what a family of treasure hunters found while they patiently combed the Atlantic Ocean for sunken treasures and buried gold.
The Schmitt family of Melbourne, Florida along with 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels LLC hit gold when they recovered $1 million worth of sunken Spanish coins and jewels off the Florida coast last month.
The team recovered 51 gold coins, 40 feet of ornate gold chain, a coin dubbed as a Royal made for Philip V, the king of Spain, which happens to be a coin that only a few of are known to still exist to this day. Another rare silver dollar-sized coin they found is the Tricentennial Royal, which is dated 1715 and is said to be worth about half a million dollar on its own.
Brent Brisben of 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels admits that, "The treasure was actually found a month ago. Keeping the news under wraps was particularly hard for the family that found it. They've been beside themselves."
The Schmitt family is a subcontractor for 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels and found the Spanish treasure in shallow waters off Fort Pierce. The family previously recovered gold in September 2013 after finding 50 feet of gold chain, while in 2014, they recovered gold filigree pyx.
1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels announced the Schmitt's family recovery to correspond with the 300th anniversary of the Spanish treasure fleet's shipwreck. The Spanish wreck has been the topic of many books, articles, blogs and documentaries over the years. The ship was led by Capitan-General Don Juan Esteban de Ubilla and was sailing from Cuba to Spain with about 3.5 million pesos in priceless treasure and the queen of Spain's jewels. The ship was said to have sunk on July 30 due to a hurricane. None of the 11 of ship's crew survived.
So far 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels has positively identified six of the 11 Spanish ships that sank. Five of the ships are still remaining to be found and the estimated worth of the treasure on board is about $400 million. The company works closely with treasure hunters, underwater archaeologists and museums to recover lost historic treasures.
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