Family Finds $1m In Spanish Gold Off Florida

A family of treasure hunters has found more than $1m worth of gold artefacts off the Florida coast.

Eric Schmitt and his family recovered 51 gold coins and 40ft of ornate gold chain that sank with a Spanish fleet 300 years ago.

The remarkable find took place on 17 June in just 15ft (4.5m) of water off Fort Pierce, about 130 miles north of Miami.

Among the artefacts was a tri-centennial royal coin minted in 1715 - the year of the wreck.

"Those are 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 that have never found one," Mr Schmitt told CBS News.

The unique coin was destined for the King of Spain, said Brent Brisben, the co-founder of 1715 Fleet - Queens Jewels LLC, which owns the rights to the wreckage.

Eleven Spanish galleons bound from Cuba to Spain sank in July 1715 after getting caught in a hurricane off the Florida coast.