In cooperation with the 1715 Fleet Society and its 300th Anniversary Commemoration of the loss of this famous Spanish fleet, Cover Coins, whenever possible over the next six issues, will be selected from the Society’s website study set. First up is this ruggedly handsome piece-of-eight minted at the Potosí facility and described on the 1715FleetSociety.com
Our treasure offering for April can be found on display at the Museum of Florida History in Tallahassee, Florida. The coins (or more accurately, cobs) depicted are silver 8 reales from the Spanish colonial mint at Lima, Peru. The Lima mint opened in 1568 and operated sporadically until 1592. After a 70 year hiatus it
The Miami Herald announces that a new exhibit, “The Artist and the Sea” at the Miami Art Center will feature treasure including silver bars, pieces of eight and Chinese porcelains from the Spanish treasure Fleet of 1715 courtesy of the Real Eight Company.
It was announced that the Real Eight Company had acquired Rebikoff Underwater Products Inc. of Fort Lauderdale. The acquisition of Rebikoff, a supplier of underwater equipment and underwater systems, marks a first diversification step for Real Eight in the oceanography field.
On this day it was announced that a $400,000.00 exhibit of Real Eight Company treasure would be featured at an open house sponsored by the First National Bank of Merritt Island on Sunday March 29. The bank’s open house was celebrating the completion of a new third floor as well as its seventh birthday on
One of the most iconic artifacts ever recovered from the wreck of the 1715 Fleet was not found through the efforts of a major salvaging company or by a well-known treasure hunter. Rather, it was found quite accidentally by a person who never even heard of the 1715 Fleet and whose main interest was surfing
Why do we display so many gold coins from the colonial Lima mint? Because they are so beautiful to behold! The specimens are nearly round, the strikes are centered and deep, and the color … what we call “butter gold”… is what we see in our subjects in most cases. The COVER COIN this time
Our Treasure Month of the for March is an item that we chose to feature because it is, at least presently, the last one like it in existence. Companions to this artifact were found at a 1715 Fleet wreck site near Sebastian Florida referred to as the “Cabin Wreck”. (This wreck is thought to be
Kip Wagner dies. Wagner was the catalyst that sparked efforts to recover the lost treasure of the 1715 Fleet. Even today, some 60 years later, recovery of those treasures still continue. All due to this one man.
The final major sale of Real Eight Fleet gold, 310 coins in all, is held by Bowers & Ruddy Galleries in Los Angeles.
The Plus Ultra Newsletter is launched. It remains in regular publication until 2016.
February 13, 2021 Last month (January 17, 2021) I posted a story about gold bars that were found at Fernandina Beach in 1976. We were trying to find out whatever became of those gold bars and hoped that maybe one of our readers might know something. The bars were supposedly sent to Florida State University
Marie Louise of Savoy, the first wife of the reigning Monarch Philip V, dies of tuberculosis at the age of 26. In September 1714 Philip marries Elizabeth Farnese of Parma by proxy. They remained married until Philip’s death in 1746.
February 6, 1968 State archaeologist Carl J. Clauson reported that the wooden remains of a well dug in sand by survivors of the 1715 Fleet disaster had been uncovered. Sections of wood, almost certainly from the wooden beams of wrecked ships used as casing for a surface well, were excavated. The well was dug a
February 4, 1967 The second major Real Eight auction offered artifacts, silver and 264 gold coins at Parke-Bernet Galleries in New York City.
Our Treasure of the Month for February is this assortment of gold rings that were found on various wreck sites of the 1715 Fleet. Of all the jewelry recovered from these sites, rings are the most prolific. Mostly made of gold, they vary in style from plain bands to ornately crafted mini works of art.
January 28, 1965 The Vero Beach Press Journal reports that Real Eight Company President Kip Wagner hopes to visit Spain later in the year in order to collect information about the 1715 Fleet from the Spanish archives located in that country. He believes that the archives may furnish clues that would help locate additional treasure
Recently, I had a conversation with Fleet Society Director, John Pullin, regarding Society business when he relayed to me a very interesting story. It seems that John was a participant in the November 1972 Schulman sale of 1715 Fleet coins in New York City. At the time, John was in his mid-20’s which probably made
While researching Real Eight Company documents acquired from Dan Thompson (one of the original members of that company) I found this interesting article from the September 1976 edition of “Treasure Magazine”. It appears that 16 gold bars were unearthed at a construction site at Fernandina Beach in April of 1976. The bars were subsequently sent
Recently I was contacted by Fleet Society member Dale Justice (membership #103) regarding an interesting item he found just north of Vero Beach. Dale is an accomplished beach hunter who has hunted area beaches for many years looking for relics that might be revealed after a strong storm. In December of 2020 he was searching
