Just recently, a diving team uncovered over 1,000 precious coins near the coast of Florida. The shipwreck of the famous “Treasure Fleet” dates back to 1715 and was due to a catastrophic storm.
The site is officially explored by a salvage company Queens Jewels, which made the discovery three months ago. Besides a few gold items, the team reports over 1,000 silver reales and several gold escudo coins. In the past, both coin types were popular in all Spanish settlements in America.
The company’s head Sal Guttuso believes that each artifact has a unique story, telling us pieces of ancient history from the times when the Spanish rule was at its height. What’s most remarkable is the chance to find so many coins at a single sight.
This summer, divers uncovered over a thousand silver reales from the legendary 1715 Treasure Fleet shipwreck. Photo courtesy of 1715 Fleet – Queens Jewels.
The perfectly preserved coins (you can easily see tails and heads) connect the find to the early 18th century. They were probably struck in Bolivia and Mexico. Given the excellent state in which they were found, it’s possible the discovery was part of one chest that fell apart when the ship went down, thus covering it with seabed silt.
The unfortunate 1715 Fleet (aka the Plate Fleet) headed from Cuba to Spain with massive amounts of wealth from the colonies, including fur, precious gems, gold, silver, and other goods. Within several days, the ships entered an area of strong sea currents near the coast of Florida. About 52 miles of seafloor were strewn with debris and treasures. In total, 11 of the 12 ships were destroyed. The majority of the treasures were lost for 3 centuries, but a small portion was picked up just after the disaster.
Archaeologists and historians are rewriting the fleet’s history in more and more details, using the information they got from recovered artifacts, for example, custom men’s jewelry. The company also plans to conserve the found items before sending them to exhibitions in nearby museums in Florida.
Video report by the Live Science channel.
Exploring the 1715 sites has brought many significant discoveries in the last few years. Apart from 1.1 million worth of precious coins, the divers discovered a unique royal “tricentennial” coin 7 years ago, which had been minted for King Philip V. However, 50 coins from one of the expeditions were not accounted for, which drew the attention of the authorities to a certain Eric Schmitt, the head of the archeological team of a salvage company. Most of those stolen items were seized in 2024 by FBI investigators.
Guttuso says the wreck continues to bring new information even now. Every object vividly tells the historical events that took place over 300 years ago. The Olertis hopes that archaeologists will unearth even more finds on the seabed, which will tell us not just about jewelry, but the way people thought and felt in times long-gone.
