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Spanish Fleet Half Reale from the 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet Shipwreck - Spanish Fleet Half Reale from the 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet Shipwreck. On July 27, 1715, eleven ships of the Spanish Fleet left Havana bound for Spain. More than a thousand men and $15 million of King Philip Vs treasure were aboard the ships. Three days later, the fleet encountered a hurricane which sunk ten of the eleven ships to their graves as they pounded into the Florida reefs. Much of the bullion from the mints of the New World was sent to Spain. The silver coins usually had irregular shapes and were formed by chopping the ends of silver bars or refined bullion and then trimming them to a specific weight. These coins, known as Reales, are the legendary coins on which treasure and pirate lore are based. When the ships were lost, the Spaniards made great efforts to salvage the cargo, which contained millions of dollars of silver and gold. Ships of war and soldiers remained on location to protect salvagers from marauding pirates and indians. Until recent years, the greater percentage of sunken cargoes could not be recovered die to natural barriers and limitations of weather, deep water, lack of means of removing sand covering the sunken remains, and strong currents. Nevertheless, even if there was only a small chance.of salvaging a valuable cargo from a sunken galleon, the Spanish more often than not would make the effort. It is for this reason that much recorded information is available about the location and cargoes of the sunken Spanish ships. The descriptions of wrecks, salvage attempts, and other data were recovered in letters and written accounts stored in the Archives of the Indies in Seville. Through the help of these documents, this silver Reale coin has been recovered from the sunken hull of one of the ships in the Spanish fleet. Dimensions: H .5 x W .5 x D .1 inches Framed Dimensions: H 19.75 x W 15.75 x D 1 inches Condition: Signs of age Provenance: Private Texas Collection