Officials Recover $1M Worth of Gold Coins Stolen from Florida Shipwreck

A hoard of gold coins from an 18th-century shipwreck in Florida, United States, has been recovered years after having been stolen. The items are valued at more than US$1million.

The treasure was stolen in 2015 by salvagers exploring an 18th-century shipwreck located on Florida’s Treasure Coast. Authorities announced on Tuesday that 37 gold coin shipwreck treasure has been recovered. They also announced that the suspect, professional treasure hunter Eric Schmitt, has been charged with dealing in stolen property.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) confirmed in a statement that the coins had been reclaimed. The organization said it was a “major milestone in a long-standing investigation into the theft and illegal trafficking of these priceless historical artifacts.”

Authorities recover 18th-century gold coins stolen from shipwreck

The gold coins’ true home is aboard the 11 ships of the 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet. These ships had been loaded with treasure with the intention of transporting it to the other side of Spain’s vast empire. However, the boats were destroyed by a hurricane that hit in the July of that year.

It was not until 2015 that the lost treasure was finally discovered. The Schmitt family, who run a salvaging business called Booty Salvage, discovered a total of 101 gold coins while searching shallow water off the shores of Fort Pierce, Florida.

“It’s definitely a passion. You gotta want to do this,” Schmitt told CBS News upon making the discovery nine years ago. “Mostly what we find is garbage on a daily basis – beer cans and lead sinkers and bullets.”

The FWC said that of the 101 gold coins, 51 were reported correctly to authorities, while the remaining 50 were not and had therefore been considered as stolen. It also said that the entire collection of 101 coins was worth an estimated US$4.5 million.

The FWC and FBI launched a joint investigation to locate the missing coins on June 10. They soon found evidence that linked Eric Schmitt to the illegal sale of multiple coins between 2023 and 2024.

They were then able to issue multiple search warrants to find the stolen gold coins from the 1715 shipwreck. They discovered that a Florida auctioneer had five of the coins, having previously purchased them without knowing that they were stolen. The rest of the coins were found in safety deposit boxes, private homes, and other auctions.

According to the FWC, in 2016 Schmitt had returned three of the coins back onto the sea floor, so that they could be ‘found’ at a later date by new investors in the company that contracted him to find the treasure a year prior.

Investigators are continuing to search for the remaining 13 coins of the 50 that are considered stolen.

“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 a statement.