1715 Treasure Fleet

The final voyage

The 1715 Fleet was actually two combined Spanish convoys — the Nueva España Fleet under Captain-General Juan Esteban de Ubilla and the Tierra Firme Fleet under Antonio de Echeverz — gathering several years of deferred colonial treasure after the War of Spanish Succession. Eleven ships, plus the French escort vessel Le Grifon, departed Havana on 24 July 1715 bound for Spain, dangerously late in hurricane season.

A week out, entering the Bahama Channel, the fleet was overtaken by a hurricane in the early hours of 31 July 1715. All eleven Spanish ships were wrecked along roughly 40 miles of Florida's Atlantic coast, between present-day Sebastian and Fort Pierce; Le Grifon, sailing further out to sea, survived. Contemporary Cuban records and modern historians describe losses of somewhere between about 700 and 1,500 people — accounts differ and no single, universally accepted figure exists. Spanish salvage crews recovered a large share of the treasure over the following months, but a substantial quantity remained scattered on the seabed.

What was aboard

No single surviving manifest covers the entire fleet. Individual ships carried registered treasure recorded in Spanish archives, but a consolidated, audited cargo list for all eleven vessels has not been published; this account draws on institutional and archival histories rather than a single document.

Silver reales: Cobs struck at the Mexico City mint, the fleet's principal cargo of coined silver.

Gold escudos: Struck gold coinage from the same mints, carried alongside the silver.

Chinese porcelain: Goods that had crossed the Pacific via the Manila galleon trade before joining the Atlantic-bound fleet.

Personal jewelry and plate: Documented finds, including gold jewelry from the so-called 'Cabin Wreck,' consistent with wealthy passengers' private effects.

How to collect

Confirm the site, not just the year: "1715 Fleet" covers eleven separate wrecks; a coin's specific find-site and salvage contract matter as much as the fleet name.

Look for state-tagged provenance: Florida-licensed recoveries generate state paperwork and a retained-state-share record; genuine material usually traces to a documented contract.

Storm-cast finds still need papers: Beach and surf finds after hurricanes are real, but resale requires the same reporting as any other recovery — a compelling story is not a substitute.

Expect wear, not uniformity: Cobs from this fleet range from sharp strikes to heavily corroded fragments; condition varies enormously across sites and salvors.