1715 fleet

1715gold · Feb 5, 2007

Question- If the 1715 wrecks have been worked since the 1960's, realistically, how much treasure could possibly be left out there?

Jimi D Pirate · Feb 5, 2007

Millions have yet to be found and five remaining ships have not been found! Well maybe five.

Jimi D Pirate

Peg Leg · Feb 5, 2007

Do not be surprised if a few NEW ones are found this coming season.
PEG LEG

1715gold · Feb 5, 2007

Sorry gentlemen, I should have been more specific. How much could be left on the 5 or 6 wrecks that have been found and worked since the sixtys. I ask because, I read that Bob(frogfoot)weller said the pickings are becoming scarce and there might not be much left.

Peg Leg · Feb 5, 2007

1715 wreck,
There is a total of about 9,000 ships that went down along the East Coast of the US. It is anyones guess how many went went down alongthe East Coast of Florida.
PEG LEG

ScubaFinder · Feb 5, 2007

I agree with Weller, definitely no reason to go looking around...there's nothing left there. Never mind the other 15 boats out there, they are just wasting time...probably sunbathing.

Seriously, in the grand scheme of things, less that 75% of the LISTED treasure has been recovered...the contraband is said to be as much or more. You do the math. Is it easy to find...nope, can you do it with a small boat, no equipment and no research...probably not. Is it there...oh yeah, can it be found...it can and it will be!

Don't believe everything you read...my posts included.

Jason

rgecy · Feb 5, 2007

There is no way it will all be recovered, but yes there has been a significant amount recovered. This is where research and a scientific, methodical approach to your excavations is important. You are much less likely to just reef roam or blow a random hole and find coins etc like they used to do. But there are many places yet to be looked.

Robert in SC

Jimi D Pirate · Feb 5, 2007

That is exactly right Robert "It will never all be found" Methodical approach is very important. it's a very big haystack out there! Tho Bird-doggin has and will give up spots off the beaten path at times, such as back in 93 when diver CJ found some of the Queen's dowry while bird-dogging off the established grid that Bob and Margaret were working. Lets not forget the "Queen's Jewels" that's what we are really after along with lots of contraband. There are many many places still to be searched and you will find most of those places closer to shore!!!

Jimi D Pirate

Salvor6 · Feb 5, 2007

I read somewhere that since the 1715 fleet was discovered around 1968 there has been a total of $30 million recovered. Also, taking account of what the manifest lists and an estimate of the contraband, minus what the Spanish recovered, the experts estimate that there is still a total of $900 million still missing.

Jimi D Pirate · Feb 5, 2007

Salvor6, I believe you have a lot of "On Target" information!

FISHEYE · Feb 5, 2007

The treasure is there.ill be out there all this summer on the HRD site.right now collecting lots of veggie oil to be made into biodiesel.i should have around 2000 gallons in a few months.

Darren in NC · Feb 5, 2007

Biodiesel will definitely keep your costs down 8)

Larsmed · Feb 9, 2007

I was just thinking about that..I am sure most of the wrecks on Florida's east coast have been worked to the bone..However there are also Spanish wrecks in the bahamas, West coast and off the coast of south america. However, of course those wrecks require much more resoureces to actually bring any kind of profit. There are so many salvors out there on the Fl Spanish wrecks that I am sure most of the extremely valuable treasure like the gold bars, disks and jewelry will be sitting on ebay or in someone's possesion.

I suppose there are plenty of coins and dubloons left out there! So HH!

ScubaFinder · Feb 9, 2007

The comments about Florida's wrecks being "worked out" are obviously from people who haven't hunted them. Do your research, and you will find that only a small fraction has been brought up. At least 5 entire ships still remain unfound, 2 sterncastles (where much of the treasure was stored) have not been found from known wrecks. The percentage of treasure that has been brought up to what was lost is phenomenally small. Do your homework before you write off an area...or at least hold your judgement until later this summer when me and my buds are proving it to you.

There is more treasure still under Florida's waters than most places in the world.

Jason

Salvor6 · Feb 9, 2007

HH, scroll up and read post #8.

Larsmed · Feb 10, 2007

ScubaFinder

I have readup on most of what Mel fisher and his crews have found since the discovery of these wrecks and it appears that according to the manifests and inventories that atleast the jewelry, disks and bars on the florida wrecks have been recovered. Now, from what I have read there are mainly jewels and coins on the Florida wreck sites.

Of course there could be some bars, disks or jewelry left over. I mean hey all of it is valuable. If you have a boat, diving gear and quality metal detectors.

If I see a post from you with a bar or disk made of silver,or gold
or jewelry from the 1715 wreck sites, I will eat my hat and my words.

HH

wreckdiver1715 · Feb 11, 2007

1715gold said:
Sorry gentlemen, I should have been more specific. How much could be left on the 5 or 6 wrecks that have been found and worked since the sixtys. I ask because, I read that Bob(frogfoot)weller said the pickings are becoming scarce and there might not be much left.

While recoveries from the 1715 fleet are fare less than they were in the 60's, recoveries from the fleets are still being reported every year. This simply means that most the easy to find artifacts have been found, and that the harder to locate and recover artifacts will require a more methodical, time consuming approach to locate. Frogfoot has also said that we will most likely never find it all. If Bob "Frogfoot" Weller truly believed that there were no more treasure to find on these wrecks, I doubt that Bob, his investors and his boat the Pandion, would still be working the wreck sites.
Lets not forget about the five shipwrecks that have not yet been found. Once located, we could all have a flashback to the 60's.

The first photo is of Bob "Frogfoot" Weller surveying one of the wreck sites in 2004.
The second photo is of a 1.5 lb. gold bar recovered from one of the 1715 wrecks just south of Sebastian Inlet by Jeff Milne on August 11, 2006.

Larsmed, enjoy your meal!

Jimi D Pirate · Feb 12, 2007

Here's some more Food for thought!
Jimi D Pirate

mad4wrecks · Feb 12, 2007

I love the blue and white porcelain! At the Mel Fisher Center they take small pieces, line the edges with gilded gold or silver and sell them as necklaces, which I think are beautiful.