Salvagers find $1 M in coins in Florida

A team of excavators has uncovered a load of long-lost Spanish coins buried for centuries under the surf and sand along a stretch of Florida known as the "Treasure Coast.

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THIS photo provided by shipwreck salvage company 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels, LLC shows Spanish coins the firm uncovered from a shipwreck off the Atlantic coast of Florida, 2025. (1715 Fleet - Queens Jewels, LLC via AP)

(1715 Fleet - Queens Jewels, LLC via AP)

Shipwreck salvage company 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels LLC announced that its divers had found more than 1,000 silver and gold coins thought to be minted centuries ago in the Spanish colonies of Bolivia, Mexico, and Peru. They estimate the coins are worth $1 million.

Over the years, millions of dollars in coins have been found - and stolen - by salvagers in a stretch of Atlantic coast from Melbourne to Fort Pierce.

Ultimately, the recent finds from this summer's salvage season will be split between the salvage company, its subcontractors and the state of Florida, as required by state law.

Here's what to know about Florida's tradition of state-sanctioned treasure hunting.

The 1715 Fleet was a convoy of Spanish ships laden with silver, gold, and jewels taken from the New World. The flotilla was sailing back to Spain when a hurricane struck it on July 31, 1715, spilling the treasures into the sea.

The Spanish recovered some of the gold and silver coins, but many of the doomed fleet's treasures were considered lost to the ages.