The 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet

you know Florida's history is steeped mystery legends and secrets one of the greatest events in world history happened on a July night 300 years ago we begin our journey into the past in 1715 at the time Spain relied heavily on the wealth and treasure it brought back from the new world known as the treasure fleet from 1566 to 1790 Spanish galleons would cross the Atlantic twice a year these ships were filled with unimaginable riches to be presented to the king and queen the morning of July 24th all eleven ships were loaded ready for their journey to Spain they left Havana Cuba with the wind and tide behind them with just seven days into their journey their worst fears would become reality what they didn't know was they were sailing directly into a massive hurricane this is 1715 there's no GPS or weather reports the only way for a sail to know there's a hurricane coming is after he's already in one the ships did everything they could to survive the storm but a hundred mile per hour winds and pounding rain kept pushing the ships toward the coast of Florida by morning all ships had crashed into the shallow reefs their holes breaking apart and spilling treasure into the raging waves you know the 1950s saw a boom and treasure-hunting right here in Florida many shipwrecks Alvers found millions of dollars in gold and silver and became famous around the world it's these legendary men and women the reason we call this part of Florida the Treasure Coast one of these legendary sailors and 1715 historian is John Brandon who was part of Mel Fisher's expedition to found the Atocha in the Florida Keys in the 1980s were an estimate of 450 million in Spanish treasure was recovered hang on I want to show you something I got a silver bar from the Spanish galleon at OCHA is insane real treasure there that's so what does this mark right here this mark is the owners mark this guy was being shipped back to him the circular stamp shows that the Kings 20% was taken out this is the a sayers bite they took a chunk of metal they weighed it then they refined it to absolutely pure silver then they knew the purity of the silver this particular bar is about 99.9% pure silver so is this a Gold Beach I mean there's a lot of gold here this gold ring right here I found right there when I was 16 years old it was the first Gold Line I ever found on the beach that first call coin it hooked me I knew what I was gonna do the rest of my life here I've got another little treat for you hold out your other hand here now what is this John now this is a gold bar from the 1715 fleet okay now I'm ready to find my own piece of Spanish treasure Gary I'm here to find Spanish treasure I'm looking for low spots lower Beach okay thanks to the war you see how these hills little Hills yeah they're kind of up and down yep that's where you're gonna find treasure there's so much gold and silver and precious jewels on these beaches yeah well you have to wait for mother nature basically - a lot Davy Jones locker this is two times a day would be I times ya war will come in and it will take sand off the bench revealing yep youie puts you closer nice to the gold and the silver well in the great thing about finding gold and silver on the beach here is its Finders Keepers oh yeah so Gary what's the greatest thing you've ever found out here found is in my left pocket what just so happens in ten years since this ring you've seen the beach you have it with you yep I brought my Spanish treasure ring oh my goodness that's twenty-two and a half carrying cargo with nine floor Colombian emerald Inca gold look at the color for me madness now you know why rear I can't keep away from this place okay that must have been an amazing day I will never forget that that was the day I find my find of a lifetime it's the best treasure ring that's ever been found off for 1715 please you know when you walk on the beaches here in the Treasure Coast you are surrounded by history literally it can be buried in the sand beneath your feet I encourage you to come out here and visit this part of Florida and learn more about this historic shipwreck and the role it played on Florida's history

Channel: Rivendell Coins & Antiquities

Views: 4,322

Rating: 5 out of 5

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Id: ToPkfcHJQM0

Length: 4min 46sec (286 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 16 2018