TAMPA, Fla. — Treasure hunters found and recovered more than 1,000 silver coins from shipwrecks off Florida's coast that date back to the 1700s. While that might sound like the plotline of a movie or TV show, it was a real-life discovery for Captain Levin Shavers and the crew of M/V Just Right.
They are part of Queen Jewels, LLC, which is a historic shipwreck salvage operation that has exclusive salvage rights to the remains of the 1715 Treasure Fleet shipwrecks.
The fleet was made up of about 12 ships transporting New World riches to Spain from Cuba when a hurricane hit, and it sank in July 1715 off the Treasure Coast, according to Queens Jewels . The Treasure Coast encompasses Indian River, St. Lucie and Martin counties.
Historians estimate that as much as $400 million worth of