Off the sun-drenched coast near Fort Pierce, Florida, an ancient shipwreck guards secrets more than three centuries old. In 2013, professional diver and treasure hunter Eric Schmitt embarked on a routine dive with his family aboard their sturdy 44-foot trawler, the Aarrr Booty. What started as another summer after-work outing turned into a momentous find—the unearthing of a pure gold pyx, a pendant used in centuries-old religious ceremonies, buried deep within the scattered remnants of a Spanish galleon lost to a violent 1715 hurricane.

This pendant, described by experts as "priceless," was the missing piece to a necklace first recovered in 1989 from the same wreck, shedding new light on the ship's sacred cargo and the lives it once touched. The 1715 fleet, a group of Spanish treasure ships, sank off Florida's coast in a catastrophic storm, leaving behind wreckage strewn like marine puzzles now approached regularly by diving teams — but rarely do discoveries of such historical gravity surface.

Schmitt’s luck extended beyond the religious artifact. In multiple family excursions spanning 2013 to 2015, he uncovered gold coins shimmering under layers of centuries-old sand and coral—valued individually and collectively in the hundreds of thousands, with one particular haul exceeding a million dollars. His finds offer more than monetary value; they restore fragments of history, each piece a tactile connection to an era shaped by perilous sea voyages and colonial ambitions.

Salvaging such treasures isn't straightforward. The physical demands of diving deep amid shifting currents and sharp coral, battling intense summer heat under an unrelenting Florida sun, make every artifact recovery a feat of endurance and precision. The archaeological significance is overseen by Queen Jewels LLC, which controls salvage rights, ensuring recovered items undergo proper preservation while legal custody rests with U.S. courts to protect America’s maritime heritage.

For adventurers eager to explore this watery graveyard, it's essential to prepare thoroughly. Trips require a robust vessel like the Aarrr Booty and certified scuba skills to navigate sometimes murky waters over unpredictable seabed terrain. The wreck lies about 60 miles north of West Palm Beach, near Fort Pierce—a city serving as an excellent base for divers and historians alike chasing the elusive treasures of the deep.

Schmitt’s story is as much about family and passion as it is about gold and history. His youthful discovery of a silver platter at just 14 spotlights how treasure hunting here combines patience, knowledge, and respect for the ocean’s fierce, yet bountiful embrace. In this blend of adventure and scholarship, every retrieved coin and artifact is a story recovered from the depths — a call to explorers to dive into history and surface with more than memories, but a tangible piece of the past.