On July 24, 1715, 11 ships traveled from Havana to Spain to deliver "the queen's jewels" estimated to be worth at least $400 million in jewelry and gold. Six days later, the fleet was struck by a hurricane and all was lost to the sea.
Parts of the treasure have been discovered exactly 300 years later, on July 30 and 31, 2015 off the coast of Vero Beach, Florida.
Brent Brisben, CEO, 1715 Fleet Queens Jewels, who owns rights to the wreckage, said the July 30 find was "magical" and "surreal."
"Not only have these incredible artifacts come up with their great value, but to have it actually happen on the 300th anniversary is really something I can't articulate," Brisben said according to CBS News.
The find has also yielded nine rare pieces known as "royal eight escudos". Before this latest find only 20 were known to exist.
"These royals are perfect specimens of coinage of the time and they were made on royal order for the king of Spain," Brisben said, according to the BBC.
"People love treasure stories. It resonates with everybody - every demographic, young and old, rich and poor. People freak out that we're literally 10-15 feet off the beach in 2-3 feet of water," Brisben told USA Today.
William Bartlett, the diver who discovered the coins, declined to say what his cut would be, telling a local newspaper: "I'm just a guy on a boat living the dream," reports BBC.
The team of Brisben, Jonah Martinez, Bill Bartlett and Dan Beckingham discovered the treasure in just six feet of water, which Brisben said is not uncommon.
"We work extremely close to shore, which is surprising to most people. These shipwrecks were pushed by the hurricane into the outer edge of the reef and then they were utterly destroyed by the wave action, so pieces of these ships have floated for miles all the way into the beach up into the dunes," he said according to CBS News.
