On behalf of the 1715 Fleet Society, its Board of Directors, and myself, I/we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all those involved in recovering 37 Spanish Colonial gold coins that were part of a larger authorized salvage in 2015 but were illegally withheld and unreported by the salvage team that located the hoard.
Legitimate salvagers who recover coins and artifacts that are part of Florida’s heritage do so with the permission of the state through lease arrangements. As such, they operate on the honor system which includes an unwritten code of ethics. These legitimate operators take great pains to ferrate out any bad actors that can tarnish their reputations, as was the case here. In fact, 1715 Fleet – Queens Jewels, LLC which is the District Court’s appointed custodian and exclusive salvaging company of the historic 1715 Treasure Fleet took this matter very seriously. The company worked closely with law enforcement and the state of Florida to ensure that the recovered coins are now going through the proper process for legal adjudication.
The theft and concealment of coins found on the wreck sites of the 1715 Fleet is not just a simple case of stolen coins. It is a case of stolen history. These coins tell us a lot about the monetary history of that period. When that history is lost, it is a crime of greater proportions. It is a loss of knowledge. It is a loss of heritage. It is a loss of scholarship. But most of all, it is a loss of trust. Trust in a system that is based on trust.
Although this is a dark chapter in the modern history of Fleet salvage and recovery there is a bright side to this all. Those who helped recover these coins were part of the legitimate, hard-working professionals who work and search the wreck sites every day (weather permitting). These are the folks who will continue to search and find coins and artifacts, many of which end up in museums and public displays.
This sad episode should not be an indictment on all that do this work. For, in the end, there are
bad actors in every profession. And judging the group by the actions of a few is not only unfair
but wrong.
