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$4.5 million sunken treasure found off Florida coast

Among the latest coins found are nine extremely rare Royals, each worth about $500,000 each, Brisben said.

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In June, they found about 50 coins with a total of about $US1 million.

Eleven Spanish ships were destroyed in a hurricane off the coast of Florida as they saileds from Cuba to Spain.

Since 2010, Brisben’s company has discovered more and more coins at the bottom of the sea during the annual salvage season, which lasts from May through September.

80 per cent of the treasure will remain in the custody of the treasure hunting company, whereas the remaining 20 per cent will become the property of the state of Florida.

The salvage operation which recovered the treasure reportedly took five days, during which the team used the boat’s propeller to move aside sand on the ocean floor, eventually reaching bedrock 8 feet (2.4 meters) down.

Some of the gold coins valued at $4.5-million found off the coast… They’ll be paid a portion of the treasure’s value after the state of Florida collects 20 percent. The rest will be split between Brisben, his co-captain and the diver who discovered the artifacts.

“It’s been incredibly surreal”, Brent Brisben, CEO of the 1715 Fleet Queens Jewels, told ABC News today.

Brisben’s team recovered 350 sunken gold coins including nine Royals, artifacts he said haven’t been found since 1998. The coins were made specifically for the King of Spain, Phillip V.

They expect more discoveries to come, with $400 million in coins still undiscovered in a coastal area stretching from Melbourne to Fort Pierce, known as Florida’s Treasure Coast.

“It’s been magical”, Brisben said. “What’s incredible about this is we found it on the actual anniversary”.

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See our special coverage of the 1715 Treasure Fleet and how it continues to influence our lives.

Bountiful haul Some of the fresh batch of coins recovered from a Spanish galleon wrec