Divers exploring a shipwreck off Florida’s Atlantic coast have discovered a treasure trove of silver and gold coins estimated to be worth $1 million.
The team discovered more than 1,000 precious pieces of currency believed to have originated from Spanish colonies in modern-day Bolivia, Peru and Mexico.
The coins were found as part of a shipwreck salvage operation undertaken by 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels LLC, which announced the discovery this week.
A selection of the coins recovered from the shipwreck.
Queens Jewels, LLC
The operation owns the salvage rights to the 1715 Treasure Fleet, which, according to its website, was carrying a vast fortune of colonial riches back to Spain when it sank during a ferocious storm on July 31, 1715.
“Historians estimate that as much as $400 million worth of gold, silver, and jewels were lost in the storm, making it one of the greatest maritime tragedies — and treasures — of the Americas,” the salvaging company said.
“This discovery is not only about the treasure itself, but the stories it tells,” said Sal Guttuso, director of operations.
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“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,” Guttuso added.
Many of the coins have been well-preserved under mounds of sand with dates and distinct mint marks still visible, linking them to a single chest or shipment that was lost in the storm.
Coins recovered from the shipwreck.
Queens Jewels, LLC
The discovery site is located in an area known as the “Treasure Coast,” which spans Florida’s southeastern coastline.
“Modern salvage operations, working under strict state oversight and archaeological guidelines, continue to uncover relics from the ill-fated fleet,” the salvage operation said.
The recently uncovered relics will be studied to gain a more in-depth understanding of the fate of the 1715 Treasure Fleet and the broader history of the region they originated.
“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,” Guttuso said.
The coins will undergo a conservation process before being displayed to the public at select museums throughout Florida.
In 2023, a diver in Italy discovered at least 30,000 ancient bronze coins hidden in the seabed.
The Italian Ministry of Culture said the fourth-century Roman coins were discovered off the northeastern coast of Sardinia, near the town of Arzachena.
The authority stated that the authenticated coins were likely from the third to fourth century AD and would have been produced within the Roman Empire. Many of the coins feature references to the Roman emperor Constantine the Great.
In 2022, a two-year expedition to excavate the remains of a 350-year-old Spanish galleon that sank in 1656 revealed a trove of sunken treasure off the coast of the Bahamas.
Gold chains, jewel-encrusted pendants, a silver sword and precious gems, as well as coins and ingots, were among the artifacts saved from a watery grave aboard the wreck of the Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas (Our Lady of Wonders).
The ship was the victim of a collision that occurred near midnight on Jan. 4, 1656, according to the Bahamas Maritime Museum.
— With files from Global News
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