Gold coins stolen from centuries-old Spanish convoy in $1M heist recovered by Florida authorities

Florida authorities recovered a collection of gold coins from an 18th-century Spanish convoy that was stolen in 2015.

The 37 gold coins were snatched from the 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet and have a total value of $1 million, according to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission press release.

The 1715 Fleet was a combination of two different groups of Spanish ships, all under one command, heading back to Spain following a successful round of treasure hunting. The fleet fell victim to a hurricane and crashed somewhere off the coast of Florida. Their spoils, including the coins, all sank to the bottom of the ocean.

Exactly 300 years later, 101 gold coins were recovered in 2015 by the Schmitt family off of Florida’s aptly named Treasure Coast. The family worked specifically to recover treasure from the Spanish fleet, even naming their LLC the 1715 Fleet – Queens Jewels.

However, only 51 of the coins were recorded, leaving the other 50 in limbo.

“While 51 of these coins were reported correctly and adjudicated, 50 coins were not disclosed and were subsequently stolen,” the FWC wrote.

The robbery sparked an FBI investigation into Eric Schmitt, one of the family members responsible for the discovery. The probe specifically looked into “the illegal sale of multiple stolen gold coins between 2023 and 2024.”

“Investigators executed multiple search warrants, recovering coins from private residences, safe deposit boxes and auctions,” the press release noted.

“Five stolen coins were reclaimed from a Florida-based auctioneer, who unknowingly purchased them from Eric Schmitt.”

Schmitt had also apparently taken three of the gold coins that he didn’t report and tossed them back into the ocean “to be found by the new investors of 1715 Fleet – Queens Jewels, LLC.”

Even so, 13 of the coins are still missing. The FWC wrote that finding 37 of them “marks a major milestone in a long-standing investigation into the theft and illegal trafficking of these priceless historical artifacts.”