Last month we spotlighted an exquisite 1715-dated gold Royal found by the Schmitt family on June 17, 2015 as our featured Treasure of the Month.
September’s Treasure of the Month is a continuation of this fairy tale saga. This time it was Brent Brisben and his crew of the Capitana that became legends in the history of Fleet recovery. On July 30 -31, 2015, the 300th Anniversary of the loss of the 1715 Fleet, in a coincidence that is so profound that it could only have been scripted by a Hollywood producer, the tough members of this crew, Jonah Martinez, William Bartlett, and Dan Beckingham, recorded one of the largest finds in the last half century. On those two days alone, 302 gold coins including seven Royals (six dated 1711 and one dated 1712), were found. During the following nearly two-week period, August 1 – 13, 2015, the crew of the Capitana found another group of gold coins, including two Royals (one dated 1711 and one dated 1712), for a total of over 350 gold coins, including nine Royals. The crew proudly displayed their find at a news conference at Captain Hirams’ Inn and Resort in Sebastian, Florida on August 19, 2015. We feature the gold Royals as our Treasure of the Month.
The odd timing of this discovery is put in perspective if one considers the following: There are 36,524.21 days in a century. The odds of Brent and his crew discovering these coins three centuries later on the very day in which they were lost are 109,572.65 to 1! The very fact that the vast majority of these coins were found on the 300 Anniversary of the loss of the 1715 Fleet will certainly enhance their provenance as well as their value.
Click on the images in the gallery below to view larger versions.
Photos courtesy of Queens Jewels LLC.
