Since retiring at the end of December 2020, I have had the opportunity to dig into all of the old archival records and documents that I acquired over the last 15 years. As a result, I have come across many interesting articles, records, letters and documents from the early days of salvaging the wreck sites
Our Treasure of the Month for September is this beautiful gold box with a coral rosary and rings set with various gemstones. The recovery of this fantastic treasure has a very interesting back story. On August 1, 1995 Mike Maguire was a part time carpet installer part time salvor working the wreck sites of the
Recently we received an email from one of our members reporting a recent recovery of a chest of ornate silver pieces found by veteran salvor Mike Perna and his 1st Mate Milan Kalelkar. Please access this link for details of this historically significant find. Also see our Treasure of the Month for May 2021 which
Here is an interesting story from Fleet Society Director John Pullin who recently attended the ANA World’s Fair of Money in Chicago. Our Director (see photo below) was having dinner when (in his own words) this occurred: “I went to a brew pub in Chicago for an early dinner. There was a mother, father and
The Battle of Blenheim was fought during the War of Spanish Succession, resulting in a victory for English-led forces over French and Bavarian soldiers.
When the Real Eight Company opened its museum in Cape Canaveral (1968) they sold a number of interesting souvenirs in the gift shop. Among the items for sale were these post cards. You don’t see many post cards today but if you do see one of these we would suggest that you buy it as
August’s Treasure of the Month is a group of Spanish silver reales from the 1715 Fleet collected by a long time resident of Florida’s renowned Treasure Coast. Our collector was not especially sophisticated in numismatics (as demonstrated by the fact that he kept the coins in a purple cloth “Crown Royal” bag) but knew enough
The July 2021 edition of Coin World Magazine (on sale until August 9) features a very interesting article on Lost and Found Treasure Ships including the 1715 Fleet. Written for Coin World by Gerald Tebben, the article focuses on coins recovered from various shipwrecks and discusses grading of shipwreck coins, valuation, auctions, salvage stories, and
This ruggedly handsome piece-of-eight was minted at the Mexico City facility. It’s a full date 1715 Mexico Eight Reales. 25.8 grams. Full and complete ‘OMJ’. All digits of date visible but not complete. Approximately 40% of shield visible … and extremely strong. Obverse hammer marks quite distinct, with one blunted corner visible. The blunted corner
Personal note: Recently I was invited to give a presentation to the members of the George Washington Numismatic Association (GWNA) in the nearby community of Washington, Pa. Founded in 1960, the Association is one of the oldest numismatic organizations in area. The group is presided over by Thomas Uram (Fleet Society member # 23) who
Greetings all. Here is an interesting article that I came across in the on-line weekly publication, E-Sylum. Published by Wayne Homren, E-Sylum is a must read for those interested in coins and all things coin related. The subject article was written by Gary Beals. It is a fascinating article which describes efforts by commercial salvors
The crew of the salvage vessel Pandion finds what is believed to be the fabled “Queen’s Jewels”. Cabin Wreck near Sebastian, Florida
Our Treasure of the Month for July is courtesy of Frank Noga of Eastlake, Ohio. Frank acquired this cute little artifact from the legendary Tommy Gore who worked during the heyday of recovery operations in the 1960’s as a Marine Archaeological Field Agent for the State of Florida. Field agents were sent onboard salvage vessels
The Real Eight Company finds a second nearly intact treasure chest containing silver coins at the Cabin Wreck site near Sebastian, Florida.
The “Tricentennial Royal” and over 50 other gold coins are found by the Schmitt Family (a group of commercial salvagers) near Fort Pierce, Florida.
Before the Spanish arrived, Florida was already home to many Native American tribes including the Ais (or Ays), Apalachee, Seminole, Timucua and others. There is evidence to support that survivors of the 1715 Fleet disaster interacted with the Ais whose territory included coastal areas and islands from approximately Cape Canaveral to the Indian River. It
A British captain ambushes a Spanish Treasure Fleet during the War of Spanish Succession.
Recently, while searching through some archival material that we secured a number of years ago, I came across an interesting article from September, 1966. It appeared in the official publication of the Florida Secretary of State called In The Capital and was written by then Secretary of State, Tom Adams. “Are We Selling History For
The crew of the salvage vessel “Half Reale” captained by Jon Wilson, find an ornate gold box containing a seven-emerald gold cross, a large woven gold chain and two gold-and-emerald rings. Cabin Wreck, near Sebastian, Florida.
For June’s Treasure of the Month we are featuring this beautiful eight escudos gold coin (or “cob ”) from the Spanish colonial mint of Lima, Peru. Dated 1712, it is not particularly a rare date for coins of this mint and denomination found on 1715 Fleet wreck sites. In fact, in its collection, the State
