On Labor Day weekend in 2013, the Schmitt family did what they always did on holiday weekends. They went out on their salvage boat to search for treasure.
And they found it. But this is not the first time they've gotten lucky.
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| The Booty Salvage boat is owned by the Schmitt family |
The Schmitt family and their diver friend, Dale Zeak, made their discovery while diving about 150 yards offshore and 15 feet down, off the coast of Fort Pierce, Florida. They found 64 feet of thin gold chain that weighed more than three pounds, five gold coins and a gold ring.
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Part of the treasure found by the Schmitts
about 150 yards off coast of Fort Pierce, Florida.
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Their treasure finds are believed to be from a ship that was part of a Spanish fleet of ships hit by a hurricane off the coast of Florida in 1715.
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| Eric Schmitt (right) with his sister Hillary (left), father Rick (center) |
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| In 2013, the Booty Salvage found $300,000 worth of gold coins and chains from the same ship wreckage |
'This is like the end of a dream,' owner Rick Schmitt told the Orlando Sentinel newspaper.
"To be the first person to touch an artifact in 300 years, is indescribable," Brisben said. "They were there 150 years before the Civil War. It's truly remarkable to be able to bring that back."
Brent Brisben, co-founder of 1715 Fleet, Queens Jewels LLC, is the company that owns the rights to dive on the wreckage site. Rick Schmitt's company is a subcontractor of Brisben's company.
Brent Brisben conservatively estimated the value of the treasure at about $300,000. Brisben also struck gold himself that summer when one of his ships found 51 gold coins worth about $250,000.
Although Rick Schmitt and his crew have found coins and other artifacts in the past, he said this (2013) is their largest find.
Treasure Times Two
In the same place over the 2014 Memorial Day weekend, the Schmitt family again found treasure. This time they found an intricate religious artifact that has been lost in the Atlantic Ocean for nearly 300 years.
"It was our follow-up to our big 2013 find," said Lisa Schmitt. "It's been there 300 years, and it's still intact. It's just amazing that it's not broken."
Son Eric discovered their 2014 treasure which was the back portion of a handcrafted gold-filigree pyx, a vessel used to hold the Eucharist, or the symbolic representation of Jesus' body during the Christian observance of Communion.
Their find weighed about one-ounce and was about the size of "an iPhone with a case on it," Eric Schmitt said.
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| Gold filigree pyx from 1715 shipwreck, part of a fleet of Spanish ships hit by a hurricane |
It's In Their Blood
As a teenager in 1964, Rick Schmitt went on his first treasure dive near the Sebastian Inlet and he was hooked. Rick, now 65, has been on hundreds of excursions between Fort Pierce and the Sebastian Inlet. He sold his Sanford, Florida pest control business in 1999 and retired. Then he started the family's diving salvage business.
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| Owner Rick Schmitt |
In 2002, Rick's son, Eric, then a Lake Mary High School sophomore, had his first big find near Sebastian. He uncovered a silver platter minted in Mexico nearly 300 years ago. The platter was worth about $25,000, Brent Brisben said.
The Schmitt family used their first ship, Booty Quest, until it was destroyed by Hurricane Frances in 2004. The season generally lasts from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Although they had been using other vessels after their ship was wrecked, the summer season of 2012 was their first time diving using their own vessel since 2004.
The state of Florida has the option to keep the pyx to display in a museum. But if it is ever sold, the Schmitt family and Brisben's company will split the proceeds.
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| Schmitt family members wearing some of the treasure gold chains |
The state of Florida also gets 20 percent of the value of gold treasures and the family shares the rest with their crew.
The Schmitts' do not find a large treasure every summer. One year, they went through the whole summer season with no luck. Then on Labor Day, they found a single gold coin.
But that's the life of a treasure hunter.