Eric Schmitt And Family Find $1 Million In Gold Off Florida Coast

Eric Schmitt and his family of treasure hunters, have found $1 million in gold and other treasure off the coast of Florida.

Eric Schmitt And Family Discover $1 Million Worth of Gold

Rick Schmitt, who with his wife Lisa and their adult children, Hillary and Eric, operates a treasure hunting company called Booty Salvage, announced Monday that they had found artifacts worth over $1 million from their treasure hunts.

“Together, Capt. Eric Schmitt, his wife Lindsay, his parents Rick and Lisa and sister Hillary, were working on their family dive boat the Aarr Booty, when the treasure was found in 15 feet of water off the coast of Fort Pierce, Florida,” Booty Salvage wrote on Facebook.

The crew has been searching for treasure off the Florida coast for years, focusing their treasure hunting on the site where 11 Spanish ships sank on July 31, 1715. For the past two summers, the search has uncovered a few exciting finds. In 2013, the family found at least $300,000 worth of gold treasure believed to have been on the Spanish convoy.

“There are good times and there are bad times and this is definitely one of our good times,” said Schmitt.

On Monday, the family announced they had found even more gold and treasure from the Spanish convoy, including 51 gold coins, 40 feet of gold chains and a rare “Tricentennial Royal” coin minted in 1715. The rare coin is reportedly one of six known to be in existence and is worth $500,000 on its own.

“Those are the things you dream of finding a royal coin, finding a presentation piece. And there are people who have been doing this for 40 or 50 years who have never found one,” Schmitt said in an interview with CBS News.

The Schmitts won’t receive all of the profits from their extraordinary find. As subcontractors of Brent Brisben’s 1715 Fleet – Queens Jewels LLC, they will split what’s left of the profits after handing over up to 20% to the state of Florida in accordance with federal law.

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.

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