A shipwreck salvage company has struck gold.
The 1715 Fleet Queens Jewels, LLC—which specializes in salvaging the remains of a 1715 shipwreck off the Florida coastline—said its divers discovered over 1,000 gold and silver coins. And the, well, treasure trove of 18th century items are valued at $1 million.
“This discovery is not only about the treasure itself, but the stories it tells,” the company’s director of operations Sal Guttuso said in a statement. “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.”
He continued, “Finding 1,000 of them in a single recovery is both rare and extraordinary.”
The coins—known as pieces of eight—were minted in Spanish colonies in Mexico, Peru and Bolivia, according to the company. The salvager said visible dates and mint marks are still visible on many of the coins, were being transported to back Spain when it got caught up in a hurricane.
