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Spanish Gold Coins Worth $4.5m Found Off Florida

Treasure hunters have discovered $4.5m (£2.9m) worth of Spanish gold coins from a fleet of ships sunk during a hurricane 300 years ago.

The haul of 350 coins includes nine rare royal eight escudos, which are being transported to the King of Spain.

Only 20 such coins were known to exist prior to the recovery of the coins off Vero Beach, Florida, salvage company owner Brent Brisben said.

William Bartlett, 51, the diver who spotted the coins, said: "The gold looks like it fell into the water yesterday."

A three-man team from salvage company 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels scoured the site on 30 July after it was selected for a search because it was close to a previous discovery.

On the same day in 1715, a hurricane pushed 11 treasure-laden Spanish galleons on to reefs off the coast of Florida, sending them to the bottom over a wide area.

The discovered coins are part of a scattered treasure trove which was being carried by the galleons.

Mr Bartlett said the crew used the boat propeller to blow a hole in the ocean floor so they could reach bedrock around 8ft down.

The company owns the rights to the wreck and carried out the salvage operation over five days.

It was unclear how much money the salvage team will receive from the haul. The state of Florida has a right to 20% of the find.