- May 20, 2004
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Re: Florida's Coin Collection
Pegleg
Answer to your question...
Apr 27, 2005 11:07 PM
Hunters scour sea for sunken ships
Group thinks treasure lies off Brevard coast
BY JIM WAYMER
FLORIDA TODAY
They slogged through violent waves to reach shore. Their gold coins, and their way home, thrashed against a rocky, violent ocean floor.
Corpses of loved ones and fellow sailors lined the beach. The 1,500 survivors set up camp and salvaged what they could. Pirates came for the rest.
Three centuries later, gold, silver, gems and other rarities fit for a queen's dowry still hide beneath sea and sand, until dreamers and divers such as Rob Westrick and Rex Stocker unearth them.
Modern-day treasure seekers scour the sandy bottom, from Fort Pierce to Sebastian, for the dozen Spanish ships believed to have sunk during a 1715 hurricane. They've found eight to date. Now hopes stretch farther north, as far as Cocoa Beach, where a few suspect the next sunken treasure-trove lies waiting for a lucky diver.
Rex Stocker of Sebastian and Rickie McHolan of Cochran, Ga., hope that's them. They are seeking a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to search and salvage treasure within about a mile of shore, from Cocoa Beach to Melbourne Beach.
"They believe that there's a wreck out there," said Tami Dabu, a project manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Merritt Island office.
The permit would allow their company, Heartland Treasure Quest Inc., to move about 3,721 cubic yards of sand. They would use their hands, and airlift suction and prop-wash to dig for gold, among sea stars, sea biscuits and sand dollars.
They must avoid sea turtles and manatees, according to their permit, and stay at least 100 feet from any reef or federally protected rocky habitat of a rare marine worm, called Sabellarid.
How it works
Heartland is one of about 20 private companies that Florida contracts with to search for treasure in state waters. Half of the salvage contracts involve waters off Indian River or Brevard counties.
The state claims the first 20 percent of whatever is found, typically the most valuable items, which go into state museums.
Treasure hunters pay a $600 fee to get started -- then $1,200 for an artifact contract to excavate, all before landing any treasure.
The companies lure investors with dreams of the queen's treasure. The hunters say the risk sweetens their reward, for those who can afford to come up empty-handed.
"We don't want people that are taking their retirement money," said Rob Westrick, a treasure hunter from Mesa, Ariz. "It's high risk. It's got to be money that you can lose."
For the divers, "It's part of the adventure of the search," Westrick added. "They don't expect to get rich from it. I guess it's just part of the hunt."
He splits his time between his "real" job as a history teacher in Arizona, and his dream job as a treasure hunter for Historical Research and Development, Inc.
The treasure trail
The late Mel Fisher eased the way for modern-day treasure hunters. The legal battles he fought and won in the mid-1980s forced the state to allow the hunters to keep most of what they find.
In 1985, his son Kane salvaged an estimated $400 million in gold and other treasures from the Nuestra Senora de Atocha, a 1600s sunken Spanish galleon about 40 miles off Key West.
For those yet to reap such rewards, an educated faith and love for things authentic drives a sense that the next dive will be the one.
"Most of them just know," Jennifer McKinnon, underwater archeologist with the Florida Division of Historical Resources. "They've been excited by history."
The ex-cops, firefighters, accountants and school teachers who search for riches off east Central Florida share one common bond: they're all history buffs.
"You almost have to be when you're in this business," said Stocker, 61, who plans to search for wreckage off Brevard.
He began treasure hunting four decades ago with his uncle, Kip Wagner, who had formed a group of treasure hunters called the Real Eight Company. The group would inspire others, such as Mel Fisher. Stocker joined his uncle's company right after graduating from high school.
"It's different every day," Stocker said. "I've done this full-time for 40 years."
Thrill of discovery
Treasure hunters describe the moment of discovery as an adrenaline rush like none other. Time stops. They feel as if thrust into the scene of a movie.
Gold coins, crosses, necklaces and rings uncovered on the ocean floor gleam in the Florida sun as brightly as they did three centuries ago.
Hunters cherish stories of their biggest finds. For Stocker, that was a golden dragon he spotted in 1964, just south of Sebastian Inlet. It sold at auction in Philadelphia for $50,000, he said.
Westrick's biggest thrill in four years of treasure hunting came last summer: the first silver coin he found diving off Vero Beach.
The salvaged artifacts make ideal show-and-tell pieces for his history students.
"It's one thing to read about something in a book. It's another thing to pass a cannon ball around the room that's 300 years old," Westrick said.
There are drawbacks, and risk of lost investments.
"It's difficult, and it's expensive," said Taffi Fisher-Abt, museum director and the daughter of Mel Fisher. "It takes a lot of time, but it's worth the effort if someone can handle it, because there is a lot out there."
Fisher-Abt displays locally discovered treasures at a Sebastian museum named after her father.
The state also shows off canons, coins and other artifacts at the McLarty Treasure Museum south of the Sebastian Inlet State Park.
Most of the 1715 Spanish treasure is believed to be within 20 feet of water. It is illegal to take it from the ocean, unless approved by the state. Beach walkers can keep what they find on the beach. Private companies pay yearly fees to own exclusive rights to 80 percent of the treasure found within designated areas offshore.
Hope of the next forgotten ship keeps them going.
"Basically, in the last 20 years, none have been discovered," said McKinnon of the Florida Division of Historical Resources.
Stocker keeps tight-lipped about his planned salvage off Brevard. Treasure hunters have speculated for years about where the other lost 1715 Spanish galleons might be.
"We just don't know," Stocker said.
Westrick believes the company he dives for could soon strike Spanish gold off Vero Beach.
"We're finding enough stuff to where I think we're real close to finding something major," Westrick said.
He knows the queen's dowry lies there, clumped to reefs or buried in sand, until the next big storm or fortunate diver -- maybe him.
"We'll never find it all," he said.
Pegleg
Answer to your question...
Peg Leg said:
Apr 27, 2005 11:07 PM
Hunters scour sea for sunken ships
Group thinks treasure lies off Brevard coast
BY JIM WAYMER
FLORIDA TODAY
They slogged through violent waves to reach shore. Their gold coins, and their way home, thrashed against a rocky, violent ocean floor.
Corpses of loved ones and fellow sailors lined the beach. The 1,500 survivors set up camp and salvaged what they could. Pirates came for the rest.
Three centuries later, gold, silver, gems and other rarities fit for a queen's dowry still hide beneath sea and sand, until dreamers and divers such as Rob Westrick and Rex Stocker unearth them.
Modern-day treasure seekers scour the sandy bottom, from Fort Pierce to Sebastian, for the dozen Spanish ships believed to have sunk during a 1715 hurricane. They've found eight to date. Now hopes stretch farther north, as far as Cocoa Beach, where a few suspect the next sunken treasure-trove lies waiting for a lucky diver.
Rex Stocker of Sebastian and Rickie McHolan of Cochran, Ga., hope that's them. They are seeking a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to search and salvage treasure within about a mile of shore, from Cocoa Beach to Melbourne Beach.
"They believe that there's a wreck out there," said Tami Dabu, a project manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Merritt Island office.
The permit would allow their company, Heartland Treasure Quest Inc., to move about 3,721 cubic yards of sand. They would use their hands, and airlift suction and prop-wash to dig for gold, among sea stars, sea biscuits and sand dollars.
They must avoid sea turtles and manatees, according to their permit, and stay at least 100 feet from any reef or federally protected rocky habitat of a rare marine worm, called Sabellarid.
How it works
Heartland is one of about 20 private companies that Florida contracts with to search for treasure in state waters. Half of the salvage contracts involve waters off Indian River or Brevard counties.
The state claims the first 20 percent of whatever is found, typically the most valuable items, which go into state museums.
Treasure hunters pay a $600 fee to get started -- then $1,200 for an artifact contract to excavate, all before landing any treasure.
The companies lure investors with dreams of the queen's treasure. The hunters say the risk sweetens their reward, for those who can afford to come up empty-handed.
"We don't want people that are taking their retirement money," said Rob Westrick, a treasure hunter from Mesa, Ariz. "It's high risk. It's got to be money that you can lose."
For the divers, "It's part of the adventure of the search," Westrick added. "They don't expect to get rich from it. I guess it's just part of the hunt."
He splits his time between his "real" job as a history teacher in Arizona, and his dream job as a treasure hunter for Historical Research and Development, Inc.
The treasure trail
The late Mel Fisher eased the way for modern-day treasure hunters. The legal battles he fought and won in the mid-1980s forced the state to allow the hunters to keep most of what they find.
In 1985, his son Kane salvaged an estimated $400 million in gold and other treasures from the Nuestra Senora de Atocha, a 1600s sunken Spanish galleon about 40 miles off Key West.
For those yet to reap such rewards, an educated faith and love for things authentic drives a sense that the next dive will be the one.
"Most of them just know," Jennifer McKinnon, underwater archeologist with the Florida Division of Historical Resources. "They've been excited by history."
The ex-cops, firefighters, accountants and school teachers who search for riches off east Central Florida share one common bond: they're all history buffs.
"You almost have to be when you're in this business," said Stocker, 61, who plans to search for wreckage off Brevard.
He began treasure hunting four decades ago with his uncle, Kip Wagner, who had formed a group of treasure hunters called the Real Eight Company. The group would inspire others, such as Mel Fisher. Stocker joined his uncle's company right after graduating from high school.
"It's different every day," Stocker said. "I've done this full-time for 40 years."
Thrill of discovery
Treasure hunters describe the moment of discovery as an adrenaline rush like none other. Time stops. They feel as if thrust into the scene of a movie.
Gold coins, crosses, necklaces and rings uncovered on the ocean floor gleam in the Florida sun as brightly as they did three centuries ago.
Hunters cherish stories of their biggest finds. For Stocker, that was a golden dragon he spotted in 1964, just south of Sebastian Inlet. It sold at auction in Philadelphia for $50,000, he said.
Westrick's biggest thrill in four years of treasure hunting came last summer: the first silver coin he found diving off Vero Beach.
The salvaged artifacts make ideal show-and-tell pieces for his history students.
"It's one thing to read about something in a book. It's another thing to pass a cannon ball around the room that's 300 years old," Westrick said.
There are drawbacks, and risk of lost investments.
"It's difficult, and it's expensive," said Taffi Fisher-Abt, museum director and the daughter of Mel Fisher. "It takes a lot of time, but it's worth the effort if someone can handle it, because there is a lot out there."
Fisher-Abt displays locally discovered treasures at a Sebastian museum named after her father.
The state also shows off canons, coins and other artifacts at the McLarty Treasure Museum south of the Sebastian Inlet State Park.
Most of the 1715 Spanish treasure is believed to be within 20 feet of water. It is illegal to take it from the ocean, unless approved by the state. Beach walkers can keep what they find on the beach. Private companies pay yearly fees to own exclusive rights to 80 percent of the treasure found within designated areas offshore.
Hope of the next forgotten ship keeps them going.
"Basically, in the last 20 years, none have been discovered," said McKinnon of the Florida Division of Historical Resources.
Stocker keeps tight-lipped about his planned salvage off Brevard. Treasure hunters have speculated for years about where the other lost 1715 Spanish galleons might be.
"We just don't know," Stocker said.
Westrick believes the company he dives for could soon strike Spanish gold off Vero Beach.
"We're finding enough stuff to where I think we're real close to finding something major," Westrick said.
He knows the queen's dowry lies there, clumped to reefs or buried in sand, until the next big storm or fortunate diver -- maybe him.
"We'll never find it all," he said.
