Category: Articles

Walt Holzworth was a Pennsylvania Dutch farmer who relocated to California to work in the construction industry. Eventually, he ended up a full-time treasure hunter. He made his first dive in 1963 at the age of 52. His wife Shirley authored this narrative describing a day in the life of a treasure hunter. The actual

“The Earliest Lima 8 Escudos in the Florida Collection” This post is the second in a series that will explore some of the highlights of the magnificent Florida State Collection of Spanish Colonial artifacts and coins. The Lima mint began striking a gold coinage in August of 1696, almost a decade after permission for a

by Herman Blanton The “171S Fleet-Queens Jewels, LLC” treasure salvage operations recovered a cache of gold escudos on 13-July-2013 on a site called “Corrigans” at Sebastian Inlet near Wabasso Beach, Fl. Other artifacts including a silver spoon, olive jar pottery shards, musket balls and spikes were found in the vicinity. About a week later three

by John de Bry This past summer I had gone down to Juno Beach, Florida, to go out on a boat owned by a company involved in the commercial salvage of historic shipwrecks. The purpose of my visit was to check out their operations and to make sure they were following the State of Florida

Literature About the 1715 Fleet and the Coins Salvaged by Dave Crooks Introduction Much has been written about the 1715 Fleet since the wrecks were discovered by Kip Wagner and the Real Eight Company in 1965. Both popular and scholarly publications have been produced, ranging from articles and pamphlets to full-length books. This list includes

The Holy Grail of Fleet Collectors by Ben Costello They say a picture is worth a thousand words. They also say pictures do not lie. But try telling that to anyone who has ever snapped a photo of a UFO – or Bigfoot. Oftentimes a picture ignites a mystery and starts a controversy, leaving more

December 1964 edition of The Saturday Evening Post. Text reprinted with the permission of The Saturday Evening Post. Photographs provided by the 1715 Fleet Society.Note that the text for this article is rather small due to the archival nature of the article and website limitations.

January 1965 edition of Argosy.                  

by Ernie Richards Fleet Day this year, July 31st, will mark the 297th anniversary of the tragic loss of the 1715 Plate Fleet along Florida’s east coast. Exactly twenty years ago, July 31st, 1992, Captain Stephen Shouppé was celebrating Fleet Day by diving on a still unidentified Fleet site known as the Cannon Pile Wreck.

Winter 1965 edition of Sport Camping Magazine. This issue featured Real Eight Co. member Del Long who recently passed away on May 4th, 2011.

This article reproduced from the Bowers and Ruddy Auction Catalog, The Harold A. Blauvelt, Iberoamerican and 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet Collections, public auction sale February 17-19, 1977