Here is an interesting item (below) that I came across while organizing some Fleet-related archival documents. This letter was written by a gentleman named Karl Goodpaster. He worked for the Real Eight CompanyAlso referred to occasionally as “The Real 8 Company”- was incorporated in 1961. It had eight members….Kip Wagner, Kip Kelso, Dan Thompson, Harry Cannon, Lou Ullian, Del Long, Erv Taylor and Lis... More back in the 1960’s, doing mainly restoration work. He is reaching out to Robert Page, who also did some marketing work for Real Eight. Among other things, the letter mentions Elva McCardle, who worked at the Real Eight Gallery of Sunken Treasure, originally located in a building owned by The First National Bank of Satellite Beach. This was before they moved their museum to Cape Canaveral a few years later. Elva McCardle was the sister of Real Eight member Dan ThompsonDan Thompson (1920 – 2005) Was a diver and original member of the Real Eight Company. Born in Savannah, Georgia, he was an electrical engineer and had a distinguished career in the U.S. Air Forc... More. It should be mentioned that Real Eight Certificates of Authenticity signed by Elva McCardle are quite rare and sought after by collectors.
The letter to Mr. Page is interesting in that Goodpaster mentions that he found some nice silver coins “on the beach north of the cape”. Mr. Goodpaster does not represent that these coins are from the 1715 Fleet, but he does suggest that they could be when he references the possibility that they came from a lifeboat.
He included poor-quality images of the coins (by today’s standards) along with his letter, and, as can be seen by the dates, the coins are all Fleet era coins. The question is, are they from the 1715 Fleet itself? If they were, our imaginations can certainly run away with us. Was it from a 1715 Fleet recovery vessel on its way to St.Augustine that fell victim to another storm? Were these stolen coins? Are they from a storm-damaged 1715 Fleet vessel that drifted until it sank? We will never know, but the possibilities are
endless.
Even today, coins that were conserved by Goodpaster can be recognized by their distinctive bluish toning. Whether or not he worked out a deal with Robert Page is also not known. At least not yet. That will take further research.
