Florida officials have successfully recovered 37 gold coins valued at over $1 million that were stolen from a shipwreck recovery operation nine years ago. The coins were part of the 1715 Fleet shipwrecks, which occurred when a fleet of Spanish ships sailing from Havana, Cuba to Seville, Spain was wrecked by a hurricane off the coast of Eastern Florida just seven days into their journey.
The first ship from the fleet was discovered in 1928 by William Beach near Fort Pierce, Florida, leading to the recovery of various gold and silver artifacts over the years. In 2015, a group of salvage operators uncovered a treasure trove of 101 gold coins near Florida's Treasure Coast, but only half of the coins were reported. The remaining 50 coins were stolen.
