Our Treasure of the Month for August has its origins in a prior treasure that we featured a few years ago in December, 2015. Here is the story. On Sunday, August 15, 2010 diver Bonnie Schubert found an impressive artifact at the Douglass Beach Wreck site south of Fort Pierce, Florida. The artifact, a gold […]

Our featured treasure for July is a small but extremely deadly item used by the Spanish and often found on 1715 Fleet wreck sites. Used in close combat, the split shot was an early form of anti-personnel projectile. Made of lead, the split shot looks like a musket ball that has been cut in half […]

Our featured treasure for June does not have all of the eye appeal of past items that we have showcased here. But, nonetheless, this item was critical to the successful construction of ships used in the Spanish fleet system. Nails, pins and spikes made of iron, are often found among the scattered wrecks of the […]

The Treasure of the Month for April is this small group of gold Mexico eight escudos from the State of Florida Collection. What makes this group so special is the very odd shape portrayed in each coin. While odd and unusual shapes are not uncommon in coins from the Mexico City mint, these examples are […]

Our Treasure of the Month for March is this bowlful of eight reales recently purchased from the Bruce Ward Estate. These reales are all uncleaned, encrusted and have that ”fresh from the sea” appearance. Some are fused together into two and three coin “clumps”. The plate (or as I call it a bowl) is pewter […]

Our Treasure of the Month for February is this gold chain and toothpick from the State of Florida Collection. Officially identified as 72A 018 000042 0001, this item was found at the Rio Mar Wreck site just south of Vero Beach, Florida. This toothpick, or “grooming implement” is one of many that have been found […]

As we begin a new decade our hope is for success and prosperity in the coming years. For centuries gold has been equated with success and prosperity. Gold has also been memorialized in the lexicon by such phrases as “Good as gold”, “Heart of gold”,  “Worth its weight in gold” and so on. Therefore, we […]