The Schmitts recovered the bounty near Fort Pierce

Sep 4, 2013 09:01 GMT  ·  By
The Schmitt family discover Spanish gold coins, jewelry dating back to the 1700s
   The Schmitt family discover Spanish gold coins, jewelry dating back to the 1700s

A family from Florida has come across a Spanish treasure worth $300,000 (€228,000) off the Florida coast.

The Schmitt are professional bounty hunters who operate under company name Booty Salvage.

They have been helped by diver Dale Zeak in recovering several pounds of gold in the form of antique Spanish jewelry.

Daily Mail informs that three pounds (1.36 kg) of thin gold chains and a gold ring have been recovered. The “loot” also includes five gold coins.

The treasure was found 150 yards (137 meters) from Fort Pierce, 15 feet (4.6 meters) underwater.

“The whole bottom was covered in gold. [...] Eight gold chains and all of these gold coins, they were laying all over the bottom. It was the most unbelievable thing I've ever seen,” he adds.

“As I was reaching to grab, I found another one six inches (15 cm) away. [...] Then I saw three piles of gold chains,” Zeak says.

Schmitt had been looking for the treasure since the 60s, but he has been doing it full time after retiring in 1999.

“To be the first person to touch an artifact in 300 years, is indescribable. [...] They were there 150 years before the Civil War. It's truly remarkable to be able to bring that back,” evaluator Brent Brisben explains for the Sun Sentinel.

Brisben, the owner of the 1715 Fleet – Queens Jewels LLC, believes that the treasure dates to July 30, 1715.

The date marks a wreck of entire fleet of Spanish ships during a hurricane. 11 of the 12 ships sank, killing more than 1,000 people.

20 percent of the findings will go to the state Florida and will go up on display. Brisben's company, which owns diving rights to the wreckage site, will also take away a part of the earnings.

“I don't care if I got one per cent of it. Finding it is 90 per cent of it for me,” Schmitt says.