How divers found the treasure of the Spanish fleet that sank 300 years ago

350 gold coins lay on the sandy bottom just 2.5 meters from the ocean surface. They used the propeller of their boat to remove the top layer of sand from the bottom, where they found these gold coins.

It took the treasure hunters 5 days to pick up all the coins from the bottom of the ocean.

“We all love this activity and we all know the odds when we don’t find anything,” Martinez said. “Being able to just do it and then excel at something like that is more precious than any treasure.”

It is hard to believe that such an amazing treasure was so close to the shore, and yet it took 300 years to find it.

The gold found by Bartlett and his team is valued at $4.5 million. Bartlett stated that the gold coins were in such good condition as if they had just fallen off the ship the day before.

And although they cannot keep the gold, they were still overjoyed at the find and the opportunity to study and organize the coins.

Among the finds were 9 larger gold coins called Royals. Prior to this discovery, only 20 such coins were known in the world. These large gold coins served as tokens that King Philip V gave to important people. Each Royal is valued at about $300,000.

This picture shows the entire team of treasure hunters, as well as Brent Brisbane, owner of the Queen’s Jewels Company, which owns the rights to the 1715 shipwreck.

So far, $6.5 million worth of gold has been recovered from the catastrophic wreck of the Spanish fleet 300 years ago, and about $400 million of gold remains to be discovered. The Queen’s Jewels Company owns the rights to the shipwreck and employs subcontractors such as Bartlett and his crew to search for the treasure. Subcontractors are responsible for all costs, which can add up to more than $50,000 for a summer search for sunken treasure, but can keep a percentage of the find if they stumble upon artifacts from the 1715 shipwreck.

The Brisbane Company purchased the rights to this particular treasure from Mel Fisher, who won a lawsuit for the rights in 1980, as Spain showed little interest in the lost treasure. However, the state of Florida has claimed any treasure found on their coast. Florida receives 20% of the treasures, which are then displayed in museums.