A family of treasure hunters found an estimated $300,000 worth of gold coins and chains during a sea scavenge off the Florida coast this weekend, Solar News reported Wednesday.
According to the Daily Mail, the Schmitt family along with a diver, Dale Zeak, found three pounds of gold chains, five gold coins, and a gold ring off the coast of Fort Pierce.
"This is like the end of a dream" Rick Schmitt told Sun-Sentinel.com.
Rick and his wife Lisa and their grown children Hillary and Eric run a company called Booty Salvage. They went to hunt for some treasure with Zeak over the weekend, and they were really surprised of the things they found.
"As I was reaching to grab, I found another one six inches away," Zeak told WKMG. "Then I saw three piles of gold chains."
Reports stated that wreckage, where the Schmitt family found the treasure, was that of a convoy of 11 ships that travelled from Havana to Spain but unfortunately sunk due to a hurricane in 1715.
Discovery News reported that the 1977 film 'The Deep' and the 2008 movie 'Fool's Gold' were based on the said wreckage.
The owner of the company that has rights to the wreckage, Brent Brisben, said that the ships' manifests states that $400 million worth of treasure was on board and about $175 million has been recovered as of late.
The Schmitt family has been searching for treasure for many years now. They have discovered a $25,000 silver platter in 2002.
In accordance with U.S. and Florida law, the discovered treasure will be placed under custody of the US District Court in South Florida.
The state will be given the right to take up to 20% of the gold and put it on display in the state museum. The remainder will then be divided between the Schmitt family and Brisben's company.
"I'm happy as hell to find it," Rick said. "I don't care if I got one per cent of it. Finding it is 90 per cent of it for me."
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