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Authorities have recovered 37 gold coins stolen from several 18th-century shipwrecks off the coast of Florida. The collection — part of a trove of over 100 coins initially discovered in 2015 — is valued at over $1 million.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), salvage operators contracted to investigate Spanish shipwrecks near Vero Beach, reported half the historic coins they found and illegally withheld information about the other half.
The historical wrecks were laden with treasure, as the Spanish were carrying gold and silver from the "New World" to Spain to help pay for the country's costly wars, according to the 1715 Fleet Society, a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit that researches the fleet.
On July 24, 1715, the fleet of Spanish treasure ships left Havana, Cuba, headed to Spain. When the fleet ran into a hurricane off the east coast of Florida days later, 11 of the 12 ships sank. Hundreds of sailors died and over $400 million worth of gold and silver went down with the ships.
Three centuries later, members of the Schmitt family, contracted to salvage artifacts from the shipwrecks, made headlines when they announced they had found 51 gold coins and 40 feet (12.2 meters) of gold chain worth over $1 million.
The Schmitts, however, did not disclose the other 50 coins they found.
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Gold coins and gold chains were recovered from the 1715 shipwreck.
(Image credit: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission)
FWC investigators worked with the FBI to figure out that Eric Schmitt, who worked for his family's company, the Fort Pierce-based Booty Salvage Inc., planted three of the purloined gold coins on the ocean floor in 2016 so that investors could find them. Schmitt also sold several of the coins between 2023 and 2024 to auction houses and private individuals, according to an FWC statement .
In all, FWC has recovered 37 of the 50 coins that the Schmitts stole from the 1715 Fleet shipwrecks.
"This case underscores the importance of safeguarding Florida's rich cultural heritage and holding accountable those who seek to profit from its exploitation," FWC Investigator Camille Soverel said in the statement.
The recovered coins will now be returned to their rightful custodians, according to FWC. Investigators continue to pursue recovery of the remaining 13 stolen coins.
Kristina Killgrove is a staff writer at Live Science with a focus on archaeology and paleoanthropology news. Her articles have also appeared in venues such as Forbes, Smithsonian, and Mental Floss. Kristina holds a Ph.D. in biological anthropology and an M.A. in classical archaeology from the University of North Carolina, as well as a B.A. in Latin from the University of Virginia, and she was formerly a university professor and researcher. She has received awards from the Society for American Archaeology and the American Anthropological Association for her science writing.
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