July 2011 Treasure of the Month

Our featured treasure for July is the fully dated 1715 silver eight reales coin depicted on the Fleet Society logo (left). The same coin is shown in the center image, taken from a promotional brochure published by the Real Eight Museum of Sunken Treasure in the 1960s. This coin was recognized by 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 as the finest example of a fully dated 1715 eight reales ever found by that legendary group. Known as the “Plate Coin,” this piece now resides in a private collection. The value of this coin cannot be readily ascertained, but a fair estimate would be in the tens of thousands of dollars.