US treasure hunters discover £2.9m haul of 18th century Spanish coins
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Version 0 of 1. Treasure hunters in the US say they have discovered a haul of Spanish gold coins from the 18th century, 300 years to the day after a fleet of ships sank in a hurricane, The Guardian reports. The coins, worth $4.5m (£2.9m), were found on the Atlantic sea bed off the coast of Florida. They are from a fleet of 11 Spanish galleons which sank during a hurricane while making the journey from Cuba to Spain. The 350 coins, found at the end of July, were buried under the sand in just a metre of water close to the shore of Vero Beach. “The gold looks like it fell into the water yesterday,” William Bartlett, the diver who spotted the haul told The Guardian. Bartlett said the crew used the boat’s propeller to blow a hole in the sandy ocean floor to reach bedrock eight feet (2.4m) down. Bartlett, declined to say what his cut would be, telling the paper: “I’m just a guy on a boat living the dream.” Under US state law, Florida will keep 20% of the value of the find. The BBC reports that the discovery is the second major find by treasure hunters in recent months. In June, about 50 coins worth $1m were found. |