The Queen’s Jewels

1715 Fleet Mexico Mint 8 Reales (Silver)

And the search for the 1715 Spanish Plate Fleet

Recognized as the greatest maritime disaster in all of Spanish history, the wreckage of the 1715 Fleet is so large that it spans three counties in Florida, a region that is known today as Florida’s Treasure Coast.

The first shipment of treasure from the New World to Spain in decades, the 1715 Plate Fleet was an immensely important cargo lost to the sea on July 31, 1715.

Between the years 1688 and 1715, Spain was ravaged by consecutive wars due to expansion and the War of Spanish Succession. It was at this moment the steady stream of New World treasure was brought to a temporary halt. Piracy had been on the rise, in The Atlantic adding further trepidation to the Spanish Crown.

Not surprisingly, when the stream was once again turned on in 1715, the arrival of treasure was paramount. Spain was in dire need of financial relief, and once again, the Spanish Fleets returned to The Atlantic. Coins struck crudely and in haste at the Mexico City Mint would go on to gather nicknames such as “Klippe Coins” and “Greenies”, due to their rustic appearances, patinated colors, and sharp edges. Aesthetics of this era of “cob” coins took a downturn in favor of correct purity and weight. Rushed to the awaiting ships, The Plate Fleet would go on to carry gold coins, gold bars, over 1300 chests of silver coins, precious royal jewels fit for the Queen, tropical fruits, raw emeralds, uncut amethyst, garnets, pearls, and Kangxi Chinese porcelain from The Orient.

The loss of this entire fleet of ships (eleven to be exact), was a massive blow to Spain’s economy and standing as a global superpower. However, not all was lost- many survivors made their way to the shores of modern-day Sebastian, Florida, injured, but alive. The shipwreck was only the beginning:

“By the time the weather and sea conditions had become unsuitable for continuing salvage, in late October of the same year, over 5,000,000 pieces of eight had been recovered along with gold and jewelry, and a great part of the King’s treasure. Although salvage was essentially completed, efforts continued well into 1718.

News of the disaster had swept the Americas and Europe much like the news of the Market crash would some 220 years later, and privateers, pirates and looters converged toward Palmar de Ays (near present day Sebastian, Florida) like ravenous vultures.

Early in January 1716, pirate Henry Jennings aboard his well-armed sloop, the 40-ton Barsheba, and John Wills aboard his 35-ton Eagle, both having been commissioned by governor Hamilton of Jamaica, attacked the Spanish salvage camp at Palmar de Ays, and detained the defenders (no casualties were reported) while looting the camp.

They made off with some 120,000 pieces of eight and other valuables, as well as two bronze cannon and two large iron guns. When the Spaniards abandoned the salvage camp in 1718, great treasure still remained on the ocean floor. Some of the wreck sites were clearly marked by portions of the ships structures which could be observed protruding above water at low tide. For years after the official completion of the salvage operation, merchant ships sailing these waters would “fish” for treasure.

Little by little the sites faded from memory and the great 1715 Spanish Plate Fleet would eventually be forgotten and left undisturbed for nearly 250 years. In 1960 the modern age of treasure hunting was ushered in by Real Eight Corporation. Their recoveries from the 1715 fleet are told in Kip Wagner’s Pieces of Eight[25].”

Excerpt taken From 1715 Fleet Historical Society