Shipwreck Divers Find Treasure Trove Worth Millions in Caribbean

Divers have found a stunning treasure trove believed to be worth millions of dollars in what is thought to be the oldest discovered shipwreck in the Caribbean. The booty includes 700 silver coins, jade figurines, and a stone that could have been used in Shamanic rituals have been recovered from the wreck off the north coast of the Dominican Republic, Britain’s Daily Mail  reports.

And the company behind the rescue effort says divers have “just scratched the surface” of what lies beneath the waves. "We only started diving last autumn and haven't gone down that much because it's been the winter," said Randy Champion, vice president of Utah-based Deep Blue Marine.

There are “thousands and thousands” of coins on the seabed, Champion said. He believes that the 50-foot ship was heading back to Spain from the New World sometime in the 16th century when a hurricane sank it, with the loss of up to 45 lives.

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The Dominican government contracted Deep Blue Marine and will split all proceeds 50/50. Company employees had surveyed 42 miles of coast unsuccessfully when a chance meeting with a local fisherman who sold them a coin convinced them they finally had found what they were looking for.

“We said to this guy: 'If you show us where you found the coin, you can come and work for us,’” Champion said.

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