Treasure hunters have discovered more than $1 million in Spanish gold and silver off of Florida’s Treasure Coast.
The salvage company with exclusive rights to the sunken prize — 1715 Fleet Queens Jewels, LLC — announced the find in a Sept. 30 news release.
“This discovery is not only about the treasure itself, but the stories it tells,” said Sal Guttuso, director of operations. “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.”
The salvagers acquired the treasure throughout the summer.
By the end of the season, the crew of the “M/V Just Right” recovered 1,000 silver coins, or Reales, and another five gold coins called Escudos.
Treasure hunters uncovered Spanish coins worth a million dollars off the coast of Florida after spending years searching for a wreck sunk by a hurricane in 1715. pic.twitter.com/KBM8Uul2E8
— DW News (@dwnews) October 4, 2025
But the discovery was a drop in the bucket compared to the company’s ultimate objective. Nearly $400 million in treasure has yet to be recovered from the same Spanish fleet, which was lost in the early 1700s.
It was July 31, 1715, when a flotilla sailing back to Spain was struck by a hurricane along the coast of Florida.
The ships, fattened with gold, silver, and jewels from the New World, broke apart in the storm, scattering their treasure across the ocean floor.
According to the news release, this recent find likely originated from a single chest.
The coins, or “pieces of eight,” were reportedly minted in Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia, where the Spanish had established colonies.
Many of the coins, the salvagers realized, still had visible dates and mint markings on them.
“Every find helps piece together the human story of the 1715 fleet,” Guttuso said. “We are committed to preserving and studying these artifacts so future generations can appreciate their historical significance.”
Over 1,000 silver and gold coins, valued at over $1 million, found from the 1715 Treasure Fleet Shipwreck off Florida coast: https://t.co/u8s2H4akob pic.twitter.com/rXIeGbaBmj
— Local 12/WKRC-TV (@Local12) October 5, 2025
In compliance with Florida law, Guttuso keeps an inventory of the artifacts that his teams find. After each season, he submits a report to the state, according to the Associated Press.
Florida keeps 20 percent of the treasure, which it retains for research or for public exhibition. Guttuso will keep the rest, which he distributes to the company and its contractors.
“We want to do it right,” Guttuso told the AP.
“And it benefits the people of Florida. They end up in the museums,” he said.
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