Meredith Hoppe

Kip Wagner, founder of the Real Eight Company, dies at the age of 66.

The crew of the salvage vessel Defiance finds a large “rosary” composed of a six-inch by nine-inch medallion-and-chain cross with sixty inches of heavy gold chain. Douglass Beach Wreck site, Ft. Pierce, Florida.

The Real Eight Company  finds a rare, almost intact treasure chest containing silver coins. It was the first such chest to be discovered. A second chest was found two years later. Both chests were found at the Cabin Wreck site, near Sebastian, Florida.

The crew of the salvage vessel Defiance finds a large rosary with sixty inches of heavy gold chain. Douglass Beach Wreck site, Fort Pierce, Florida

The first auction of Real Eight treasure coins is presented by Henry Christensen in Hoboken, New Jersey. Lot #282, a full date 1712 Mexico eight reales, has the distinction of being the first Mexican Real Eight coin ever auctioned.

Opening reception for the Real Eight Company’s first museum at the First National Bank in Satellite Beach, Florida

The Treaty of Ultrecht formally concludes hostilities between Spain and Britain, thus permitting the treasure fleets to sail again.

Marie Louise of Savoy, first wife of Philip V, dies at the age of 26.

February 26th, 1972 Kip Wagner, founder of the Real Eight Company and largely responsible for the modern day recovery of the treasures of the 1715 Fleet, dies at the age of 66.

February 17th – 19th 1977. The final major sale of 1715 Fleet gold (328 gold coins in  all), takes place at the Bowers and Ruddy Galleries in Los Angeles.

303rd Anniversary of the loss of the 1715 Fleet.

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 near Fort Pierce, Florida.

During the War of Spanish Succession a British Captain ambushes a Spanish Treasure Fleet. During the engagement the Spanish vessel San Jose was sunk off the coast of Cartagena, Columbia. The ship was laden with gold, silver and emeralds with a current value of $17 billion dollars.