Valuables were being transported in 1715 from American colonies when a hurricane wrecked a Spanish fleet

Hidden beneath the turquoise waters off a stretch of Florida known as the “treasure coast”, a team of divers from a shipwreck salvage company have uncovered exactly that – a load of long-lost Spanish treasure they estimate is worth $1m.

More than 1,000 silver and gold coins thought to be minted in the Spanish colonies where Bolivia, Mexico and Peru now sit were uncovered this summer off Florida’s Atlantic coast, 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels LLC announced this week.

Centuries ago, the fortune was being ferried back to Spain when a hurricane wrecked the fleet’s ships on 31 July 1715, spilling the treasures into the sea, according to the 1715 Fleet Society.

Dates and mint marks are still visible on some of the recovered coins, the salvage company said, a benefit for historians and collectors hoping to glean more information from the lost treasure.

“This discovery is not only about the treasure itself, but the stories it tells,” Sal Guttuso, director of operations for the salvage company, said in a statement. “Each coin is a piece of history, a tangible link to the people who lived, worked and sailed during the golden age of the Spanish empire. Finding 1,000 of them in a single recovery is both rare and extraordinary.”

Under Florida law, any “treasure trove” or other historic artifacts “abandoned” on state-owned lands or in state waters belong to the state, though excavators can be permitted to carry out “recovery services”. The law requires that roughly 20% of the recovered archaeological materials be retained by the state for research collections or public display.