Eric Schmitt, second from left, announces Tuesday, July 28, 2015, during a press conference in Sebastian, Fla. that he found 51 gold coins and 40 feet of gold chain during a dive near Fort Pierce on June 17, 2015.
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The centerpiece of the Schmitt’s latest find is a ideal specimen of a coin called a royal made for Spain’s King Phillip V and dated 1715.
A family of treasure hunters found $1 million worth of sunken Spanish gold off the coast of Florida.
“These things were known as presentation pieces not meant to be circulated as currency”, Schmitt was quoted as saying by Orlando Sentinel.
The family are subcontractors to the treasure hunting group 1715 Treasure Fleet which made the new discovery in the same area a few off 45 metres off the Fort Pearce coast.
Schmitt and his family had been working the 1715 vessels under contract with 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels LLC, a Florida company with exclusive rights to the wrecks, for several years. In 2012, a yearslong dispute between the Spanish government and Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration ended with a U.S. judge ruling that silver and gold coins worth $500 million and discovered in Gibraltar and named “Black Swan” had to be return to Spain.
“What the Schmitts have been able to accomplish – they found 1715 tricentennial royal, and it’s an wonderful recovery”, Brisben said.
Queens Jewels, LLC is a salvage operation managed by Brent and his father William. “One of our key goals is to help learn from and preserve history, and this week’s finds draw us closer to those truths”. Estimation of the yet unrecovered riches is valued at $440 million.
“It was like someone was right here next to me talking to me saying you’re going to find gold”, said Hillary Schmidt.
According to historical lore, the ships set sail from Cuba on July 24, 1715, then colonized by the Spanish. He was out with his wife, parents and sister on their annual treasure hunting trip when he found the rare artifacts.
20% of the treasure will be taken by the Florida state and display it in museums, while the Schmitts and Brisben’s company will split the rest.
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LiveScience added that both Brisben and Schmitt are hopeful that there is even more treasure waiting to be discovered in the waters off the Coast of Florida.
