From the Glory Days of Kip Wagner and Mel Fisher the Grade 1 Silver Eight Reale and a Rare Hand-Signed Real 8 Company Certificate in a 14K Gold Heirloom Pendant

Please Note: This is an authentic 1715 Fleet Shipwreck Treasure Coin, and you will receive the exact pendant in the photographs and description.

FOR PENDANT SIZE SEE COIN DETAILS BELOW

One of the most famed treasure fleets of all time, the 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet yields some of the most stunning examples of early 1700's silver Spanish "cob" shipwreck treasure coins. 

Crudely minted cob coins - short for cabo de barra, or "end of the bar," each has it's own unique shape - and combined with the sea wear and stunning patinas, each is a small work of art!

The Golden Age of Piracy - 1650-1730

What connection does the 1715 Fleet have to Pirates: These "pieces of 8" are also the famous coins of pirate legend and lore. The Spanish quickly began salvaging their fleet. But pirates Henry Jennings, and Charles Vane, amassed a crew and attacked the Spanish salvage camp on December 28, 1715. They made off with upwards of 350,000 pieces of 8. Obviously, this coin survived that raid, and lay hidden for hundreds of years on the ocean bottom, to be salvaged only a few years ago.

The pirate Blackbeard was also prowling the Florida coast and Caribbean at this time and drinking rum with Jennings and Vane! It's fascinating to consider that Blackbeard was sailing by, and attacking ships, just a few miles from the wreckage of "The Fleet," which stretched for over 30 miles along the Florida coast.

Your 1715 Fleet Shipwreck Treasure Coin

• Date: Circa 1713
• Denomination: 8 Reale
• Mint: Mexico City, New Spain
• Ruler: King Philip V of Spain
• Coin Metal: Silver
• Bezel Metal: 14K Gold
• Obverse (Front): The Florenzada Cross
• Reverse: (Back): The shield of King of Spain 
• Articulating Nautical Shackle Bail with a LARGE 8mm inside diameter large enough to fit a high quality gold chain 
• Pendant size including bezel:  1 1/4" Across, 2 1/4" Tall - the diameter of a silver dollar

Notes from Robert: This coin was more than likely recovered by John Jones, president of the Real 8 Company. During those years they recovered a number of very large and heavy coin conglomerates that were the remains of treasure chests. Coins of this stunning, Grade 1+ quality were gently removed from the inner part of these "clumps." SEE More details below.

Perfect, Grade 1, centered full cross. Amazing shield. Classic 1715 Fleet shape! It looks very similar to the first "Piece of 8" I recovered from the Fleet. But this one was recovered many years before I began "working the Fleet" by one of the original salvors.

Besides this being one of the most stunning quality coins from the 1715 Fleet, its pedigree is even more rare and impressive. In the days before coin photos were added to Certificates of Authenticity, the outline of the coin was sometimes added to the COA. This is real 1715 Fleet treasure hunter memorabilia.

A true "Key West Dog Tag." Get a mild sunburn on your face and push up to the bar at Capt. Tony's in Key West with this beauty slung low around your neck and you'll turn heads! Heck, you'll turn heads anywhere you wear it!

Significance and Rarity of an Original Real 8 Company Certificate of Authenticity. 

On July 31, 1715, Spain's Plata Flota (Silver Fleet) was hit by a hurricane and wrecked for 50 miles along the Florida coast. Within weeks, the Spanish began to salvage what was left of their fleet. But as word traveled beyond the isolated beaches, looters and even pirates converged on the area to pillage their share of the spoils. Technology of the day limited what could be recovered. The Spanish closed salvage operations in 1718, still leaving a considerable fortune on the bottom of the ocean.

As the years passed, only whispers remained of a king's ransom, scattered along the shores around what would become Vero Beach, Florida. Pieces of wreckage and coins would wash up on the beaches, but no major effort was ever mounted to search for more.

The Real 8 Company

It wasn't until Kip Wagner, a middle-aged contractor, was introduced to "The Fleet" in the late 1950s and started finding Eight Reales on the beach, that it would find its way into 20th Century history. (Reales is plural for Real or Reale.)

Wagner formed friendships and partnerships with others who were "bitten by the treasure bug," and they formed the Real Eight Company, Inc. in 1961. There were 8 founding members: Kip Wagner, Dr. Kip Kelso, Colonel Dan Thompson, Lou Ullian, Del Long, Erv Taylor, Lisbon Futch and Lt. Colonel Harry Cannon. In May of 1964, John Jones came on board along with Bob Johnson. John Jones would become president of the Real 8 Company. 

It is true treasure hunter memorabilia, and this information will accompany our own detailed Certificate, so its rare provenance is not lost to time.

For more on the 1715 Fleet, click here>

To see our complete collection of Spanish "Piece of Eight" treasure coins, click here>

Your 1715 Fleet Shipwreck Piece of Eight Pendant Comes Complete with:

1. Our 100% Authentic Lifetime Guarantee
2. A Detailed, 3 Page Full Color Certificate of Authenticity Researched and Written by Robert Lewis Knecht
3. Extremely Rare Real Eight Company Certificate of Authenticity hand signed by John Jones
4. Very rare Treasures of the Spanish Main booklet printed in England in the 1960s 
5. 8 page full color Mexico City Mint Historic Brief written by Robert 
6. "Pieces of Eight" Historic Brief
7. The Coins of the Lost Galleons Book
8. Treasure Hunters Gazette Booklet
9. Mini Museum Display for when you are not wearing your treasure
10. A Treasure Jewelry Care Card