02x01 - The 1715 Treasure Fleet

[bunniefuu]

NARRATOR: Tonight
on Beyond Oak Island...

Where are we searching today?

GARY: This area in Florida
is the Treasure Coast,

where the fabled
Spanish 1715 Fleet sunk,

and so we could find anything.

JOHN B.: When the
ships hit the reefs in 1715,

they hit the reefs
and literally exploded.

There's still over 20 tons
of silver coins to be recovered.

There's plenty of treasure
to be found.

MATTY: Oh, wow, yeah,
it's in here somewhere, Rick.

- Wow.
- That's a signal, mate.

- (laughing): Whoa!
- Come on.

All the while
we were growing up,

my brother and I were fascinated
with finding treasure.

RICK:
Pirate treasure,

cursed treasure.

Civil w*r gold.

- (laughter) - Since then,
our work on Oak Island

has shown us
there's a world of mysteries...

- Whoa.
- Waiting to be explored.

RICK: So, we like to reach
out to other treasure hunters.

X marks the spot, right there.
Brilliant.

- MARTY: We want to hear their stories...
- That's right.

- And share our insights.
- "Ill-gotten gains."

- RICK: And who knows...
- GARY: I got it.

Maybe we can help them
with their search.

MARTY:
Not only in America.

Wow. That is gold.

- RICK: But all over the world.
- Yeah!

MARTY:
Beyond Oak Island.

MARTY: This little
excursion of ours to see Gary

and learn about what
his world is all about

and the treasure
he's sought for so long...

We're gonna just have
a little fun on the beach.

We're gonna do
a little metal detecting.

We're gonna learn a little bit.
I'm pretty excited about it.

I'm very much looking forward
to understanding

more about the Treasure Coast
and its history.

NARRATOR:
In Sebastian, Florida,

brothers Rick and Marty Lagina,

along with Matty Blake,
are heading to the home

of their good friend and key
member of their Oak Island team,

world-renowned metal detection
expert Gary Drayton.

We're gonna get
to see his finds.

- Yes!
- That's right.

Well, that's another
great thing. Yes.

NARRATOR:
During the winter months,

when he's not helping
the Laginas on Oak Island,

Gary, who happens to live on
Florida's famed Treasure Coast,

keeps busy with
his own personal quest:

searching for the lost riches

of the 1715
Spanish Treasure Fleet.

You know, we were talking about

the colonial powers, you know,
plundering the Americas.

These guys
and the people in charge,

they wanted gold, of course,

and, you know, um,
they wanted glory.

- Right.
- Uh, they wanted glory for Spain.

Exactly. I agree with you.

NARRATOR: In 1492, shortly
after Christopher Columbus sailed

to what would become
the Americas

on behalf of the Spanish Empire,

he and his crew were astonished
to find gold deposits

scattered throughout the rivers
across the island of Hispaniola.

Lured by the promise that more
great riches might be found,

Spain began an aggressive
campaign to colonize Central

and South America, as well as
the Caribbean Islands.

In 1519, the notorious
conquistador, Hernán Cortés,

led his army
on a ground expedition

into what is today Mexico City,

where he encountered
the Aztec Empire

and their vast wealth of gold,
silver and precious jewels.

It would lead to a brutal
conquest that would only trigger

even more violent plundering
of the region

and ultimately the destruction

of numerous
indigenous civilizations.

ROB W.:
Cortés goes into Mexico City,

finds the Aztec Empire's
huge amounts of wealth.

By 1536, the Spanish have
completely conquered the Aztecs.

A little bit later,
Pizarro goes down into Peru,

where he finds the Inca Empire,

another huge
pre-Columbian empire

with lots of riches,
lots of gold.

And they start sending gold
and more silver

back to Spain, and in a very,
very short period of time,

Spain becomes one of the world's
premier superpowers.

NARRATOR: Over the course
of the next three centuries,

other European nations,
including England,

France and Portugal,
joined the race for control

of New World territories,
plundering, by some estimates,

more than $500 billion
in treasure,

which was loaded
onto galleon ships

to be sailed back home
to their monarchs.

However, for many of
these European conquerors,

there was one obstacle
that they would not

be able to overcome
on their journey home:

the ocean.

JOHN D.: The ocean was not
a safe place to be,

especially for a Spanish fleet

going back
to the Old World with riches.

They feared
being caught by storm,

by hurricanes,
by a number of elements.

NARRATOR: Although experts
and historians can only estimate,

it is believed that more
than 681 treasure vessels

lay in ruins below
the waters spanning from Cuba

to the Eastern Seaboard
of the modern-day United States.

MARTY: Here we are,
Gary Drayton's house.

MATTY:
Sweet pad.

- RICK: w*r room Florida.
- MATTY and MARTY: Yeah.

MARTY: I am looking forward to
seeing what the Draymeister has.

RICK: I'm always about the eyes
and boots guys on Oak Island.

You know, Gary certainly is
an eyes and boots guy.

There he is. I see him.

Hey, Gary Drayton!

RICK: It's exciting to know
that we're finally gonna

get to see Gary in his element

and I get to go metal detecting
on the Treasure Coast.

So, it doesn't get
any better than that.

- Thanks for having us.
- Come on in, guys.

On my way.

- Watch your head.
- Yeah, right?

NARRATOR: With over
three decades of experience

as a metal detection expert and
professional treasure hunter,

Gary Drayton has recovered
countless artifacts

from across the world,

including many of great
historical and monetary value.

He first found his passion
for treasure hunting

as a young boy growing up
in Lincolnshire, England.

GARY:
I always worked on farms,

so I was always
out in the fields,

and I'd be picking up little
pieces of pottery and glass.

And it was like picking up
a little piece of history.

When you're holding
Roman pottery in your hand

and you're, like,
an 11-, 12-year-old boy,

your imagination runs wild.

So, Gary, you grew up
in England.

Did you ever think
that a kid from England would be

searching for treasure
here in Florida?

Not in my wildest dreams, Matty.

But just like you guys,

I dreamt as a kid
of faraway treasures,

uh, islands and pirates,

and now I actually get
to do this for a living.

It is absolutely fantastic.

Is there anything
you can show us

to really get our juices going?

Yeah, there's something
very precious in there.

- I would love that. I-I want to see the goodies.
- Oh, oh!

- That's what we wanted.
- Okay.

You want to see some good stuff?

Yep.

GARY:
The Treasure Coast, to me,

is my own Oak Island
in me backyard.

And one particular fleet
put this area on the map,

and that is the fabled
Spanish 1715 Fleet.

All right. Here we go.

- I see some shinys in here.
- Oh, wow. Oh, wow.

All these are interesting finds
from the 1715 Fleet.

- These are nice.
- MARTY: Yeah, that's very nice.

RICK:
Beautiful.

- This...
- That thing is...

GARY: That is a 1715
Fleet treasure ring.

I know it's squashed.

- I found it like that.
- MARTY: God, that's beautiful.

- RICK: Mm-hmm.
- GARY: Yeah.

NARRATOR: In 1715, nearly
two centuries after conquistadors

first began their conquest
of the New World,

Spain had fallen
into severe debt

under King Philip V

following the brutal 13-year
w*r of Spanish Succession.

In a desperate bid to renew

the country's
financial stability,

King Philip issued an order

to his forces stationed
in the New World

to send an entire treasure fleet
of galleons home,

loaded with as much
plundered riches

as they could possibly carry.

On July 24, 1715,
12 ships loaded with treasure

left the port city of Havana

under the command of
General Juan Esteban of Ubilla.

The Gulf Stream was
the way to go.

They followed the Gulf Stream
all the way up Florida

because it was much faster,
all the way up to Bermuda,

and then cut
toward the east to Spain.

You know,
there's no Weather Channel.

These guys have no idea
that a hurricane is

200 miles away and heading
right in their direction.

The winds have continued
to increase in velocity.

It's raining.
It's torrential rain.

It gets so dark at noon
that the captain's ordered

that the stern lanterns be lit

so the ships can continue
to follow one another.

Every ship is at
the mercy of the sea.

And one by one,
they get smashed to pieces

against the reefs of Florida.

NARRATOR: In the early
hours of Wednesday, July 31,

11 of the fleet's 12 ships
were destroyed.

As a result, over 700 sailors
and passengers perished,

and billions of dollars' worth

of gold, silver
and precious jewels

were scattered
across an estimated

30-mile-long stretch
of coastal reefs

in the area of what is now
Vero Beach, Florida.

And there was one treasure
that was on these ships

that stands out from the rest,
and that is the queen's jewels.

The legendary dowry
of Queen Isabel.

So, Gary, this is fantastic.

Absolutely fantastic.
But I know there is "the one."

- Is that here?
- Oh, yeah.

(chuckling):
Can we see that?

- You want to see the precious?
- Yeah.

- Okay, we'll get to the precious.
- All right.

We're ready for the precious.

This is your
pride and joy, right?

Yeah, it is.

- There you go.
- RICK: Whoa.

Whoa. Wow.

GARY:
My most impressive find

on the Treasure Coast
of Florida is me precious.

That magnificent 1715 Fleet

emerald treasure ring.

The greatest treasure ring
ever found in America,

and I'm quite proud of that.

That is spectacular, Gary.

That is the ultimate
bobby-dazzler, innit?

Yeah, it-it is.

GARY: Uh, these are
flawless Colombian emeralds.

300 years old.

22-and-a-half-karat Inca gold.

- Wow.
- Yeah.

The mystery of the 1715 Fleet...

And that's what drives every guy
metal detecting on the beach...

Is the chance to find
the queen's jewels.

MARTY: You think this
is one of them, then?

I do believe
my treasure ring is part

of Queen Isabel's dowry.

Wow.

Do we have a chance today
to actually find

- something like this?
- GARY: We do.

- Really? Truthfully?
- Yep, truthfully.

We always got
a chance to find treasure.

Because a couple of
hurricanes every year

just pushing that treasure
onto the beach.

Those beaches are just
full of treasure.

All right. So, where
are we searching today?

X actually really does
mark the spot, mate.

We are going
to the site of the Capitana.

- MARTY: Okay.
- GARY: It's called Corrigan's.

It is the most heavily hunted
and the most famous

of the 1715 Fleet wreck sites,

because it was the biggest ship.

Bigger the ship,
the bigger the treasure.

- Okay. Let's go.
- Let's go.

- MATTY: Let's find some stuff.
- GARY: Absolutely.

MATTY: All right, we got
the treasure hunting gear.

- We're ready to find some treasure.
- GARY: Let's make it happen.

- It's gonna be fun.
- It's gonna be more than fun.

- I mean...
- (laughs)

It's like
a college road trip, right?

- Yeah, there you go.
- MATTY (laughing): Yeah.

NARRATOR:
In Vero Beach,

along Florida's
famed Treasure coast,

brothers Rick and Marty Lagina,
along with Matty Blake,

are traveling to a location
with Gary Drayton

where he has
previously discovered

hundreds of thousands of
dollars' worth of gold, silver

and jeweled artifacts
from the historic

Spanish shipwrecks known
as the 1715 Treasure Fleet.

The 1715 Treasure Fleet
goes down,

this horrible disaster.

How quickly after
it disappeared, basically,

did they start to try
to salvage that treasure?

Well, straightaway,
they tried to salvage

as much as they could.

Then the Spanish,
when word got back to Spain

about these wrecks,

they did a big salvage operation
for three or four years.

NARRATOR: The survivors of
the wrecked 1715 Fleet established

several salvage camps
in the vicinity of Vero Beach

and quickly began recovering
what they could

by forcing enslaved
free divers to descend

for several minutes at a time

to depths of as much as 45 feet
by simply holding their breath.

These were either
Native American people

or they were
Black African sl*ves.

Basically, they would go out
to the wreck sites,

grab a heavy rock,
jump overboard,

go down and try to recover
as much as what you could find.

NARRATOR: By 1719,
after many harrowing efforts,

approximately 70%
of the recorded treasure

was salvaged, before further
efforts had to be abandoned.

However, the lost treasure
that remained on the ocean floor

is estimated to be
worth billions today.

And then everything
sort of like got lost in time,

and it just fell into history

until an enterprising guy,
Kip Wagner,

he was instrumental
in the first modern

salvage attempt on
the Treasure Coast of Florida.

NARRATOR:
In the 1950s,

a building contractor
turned treasure hunter

named Kip Wagner

assembled a team known
as the Real Eight Company

and discovered one of
the 1715 Fleet wrecks,

along with 2,000 silver coins.

However, in 1964,
after partnering

with professional diver
and treasure hunter Mel Fisher,

the fortunes of both men
would drastically change.

In 1964, they dug
a point of excavation,

and the bottom was
literally paved with gold...

Gold doubloons
and pieces of eight,

all kinds of treasure.

They brought up over a thousand
gold coins in that one day.

TAFFI: Back then, I
think they were selling

gold doubloons
for a thousand dollars.

Today, famous gold doubloons
can be valued

up to $100,000 per coin.

We have a whole museum
in Sebastian, Florida,

filled with our family's
personal collection,

treasures from the 1715 Fleet

and from some of
the other shipwrecks

that my parents worked,
like the Atocha and Margarita.

My father's legacy, uh,

as far as the 1715 Fleet goes,
is he was a pioneer,

and he showed that you were able
to succeed in finding treasure,

but you had to have persistence.

MARTY:
Here we are.

- All right.
- MATTY: All right.

Come on, fellas.
This is what we came here for.

MARTY:
This is what we came here for.

You know the old adage,

"You can't win the lottery if
you don't buy a ticket," right?

We know
the treasure's out there.

We have our secret weapon,

Gary Drayton,
who knows where to go.

GARY: We've got two
detectors, two scoops.

MARTY: I think we have a reasonable
chance of finding some treasure.

I'd be really happy
with a silver coin.

Yeah, obviously,
a gold coin would be fabulous.

A silver coin...
I'd settle for that.

And are we doing teams?

I think that's the best way
is to split up into teams,

- and then one dig, one detect.
- Okay.

What are the teams? You pick.

- Uh, Bravo Tango One...
- (laughter)

- Bravo Tango Two.
- Oh, sure.

Wait a minute, wait a minute,
wait a minute.

Rick gets the best
metal detector in the world?

- RICK: No, no, the... No.
- And I get Matty?

- (laughter)
- We're like underdogs.

- So we're-we're set to win.
- All right.

You know what, I agree.
Underdogs win.

- All right, let's go.
- MARTY: Let's go.

- Let's go before it starts raining.
- Yeah.

This is it, guys...
Treasure central.

- MATTY: Wow.
- MARTY: I can tell you are getting excited, Gary.

- I can feel it.
- MATTY: This is cool.

MATTY: Is this where that initial
1715 salvage attempt took place?

Yeah. This is the area
where the Capitana bit the dust

on that night July 31, 1715.

And so, we could find
anything on this beach

from way past
the condos down there

to the second flagpole
to the south.

There's a big,
long area where you really

could find anything any day
on the Treasure Coast.

I'm going to show you
where to do what I refer to

as paint in the sand.

And when I detect,
I sweep twice.

- MARTY: Oh, I see.
- GARY: And then I step.

- I never walk.
- MATTY: Okay.

Now, anybody else comes
down here with a metal detector,

most guys are walking
right over treasure.

We're not going to do that.

The hardest thing is
knowing where to search,

and then you just
got to take your time

and winkle a good find there.

- So remember, guys, paint the sand.
- MARTY: Got it.

All right, show us where
to start. We want to dig.

- MATTY: Let's do it.
- GARY: Let's go.

Okay, guys, this is
a great area to start,

because we've got a shell line

and we've got hardpack sand
on the lower beach.

So, this is a good sign,
but the most...

the best sign
that I'm seeing now is this.

- MARTY: It's hardpack...
- Hardpack sand.

This hardpack sand traps targets

and holds them in place.

So I think we should
split up: two teams.

One go for the shell line,

which is going to be
shallow surface finds...

One or two inches...

And another team
do the hardpack.

- MATTY: Let's go.
- Come on, Matty. Let's find something.

- All right, partner.
- GARY: You want to do the lower

- or the higher beach?
- We'll do the low.

- All right.
- All right, Matty. Find it, baby.

- Whoo! Here we go! One...
- Come on.

It's like the ultimate
scratch-off lotto ticket,

- when you think about it.
- Yes.

MATTY: We are in, like,
treasure-hunting mecca.

You know,
maybe besides Oak Island.

This is where to be.

(beeping)

- That's a signal.
- That's not bad.

Yeah.

(whirring)

Okay, mate, we're in business.

Come on, lucky digger.

- Where do you want it?
- Anywhere you like, mate.

See how easy it is
digging with a sand scoop?

You like that scoop, don't you?

- (laughing): It's all right.
- It's all right?

All right, mate,
let me recheck it.

(beeping)

Yep, you got it out.

Do you want to do the honors?

RICK:
No, no.

You found it.

I thought
that sounded like gold.

Oh, my gosh.

All right, it's in my hand.

- I see it.
- There it is.

- RICK: It's a...
- GARY: A little piece of aluminum.

A lot of this aluminum
that you find

along the Treasure Coast,

um, it was from
the Challenger disaster.

- Wow.
- A heck of a lot of it.

You find these little
molten pieces of aluminum.

Yeah, a lot of people take it
into the museums

and say, "Oh, is this treasure?"

Say no.
More than likely, it's...

stuff left over
from the space Challenger.

NARRATOR:
At 11:38 a.m.

on January 28, 1986,

the Space Shuttle Challenger
launched

from Kennedy Space Center
in Cape Canaveral, Florida...

MAN:
And liftoff.

NARRATOR: for its planned
tenth mission into space.

Just 73 seconds later,

one of the craft's
rocket boosters exploded,

causing it to break
and disintegrate

over the Atlantic Ocean

and tragically taking the lives

of all seven
crew members on board.

GARY: When the Space
Shuttle Challenger broke apart,

it scattered millions of pieces
of molten aluminum

up and down the Treasure Coast
of Florida.

And we're still
recovering it to this day.

We've got a little piece
of aluminum,

a tiny little shredded... Look.

RICK: That's from the
Space Shuttle Challenger.

MATTY:
Wow.

RICK: The thought that
perhaps there were some

remnants of the space shuttle
that had fallen,

that would be incredible.

Maybe we were literally
holding a piece of history.

Not treasure as described
in a treasure trove-like sense

but a real historical item.

MARTY:
All right, Matty.

Hustle something up.

- Come on, baby.
- Come on, baby.

MATTY:
I got a good feeling.

Oh, wow.

Plastic. Dang.

Dang, it's quiet.

Come on, baby.

Any luck, guys?

- No.
- No. Not since our last.

We've got a dry spell here.

It's been quiet.

Yeah, the same here.
The further we've gone away

from that dip down there,

- the less we're finding.
- Mm-hmm.

MARTY: It does not surprise
me at all, nor really disappoint me,

that we didn't find
anything today,

but persistence,
uh, and patience

and staying with it, you know,
might yield a result.

So we're gonna
do it again tomorrow.

We've had a good day searching
for Spanish treasure.

That encourages me
that the next spot we go to,

we have a chance
of finding something good.

But you know what?

I think we should go get
some grog like true pirates.

And I know a perfect bar
down the road.

And I've got a good buddy
of mine, John Brandon, there.

And he'll show us
some good finds, I'm sure.

And maybe he's got a good spot
that we could try out.

All right.
That sounds perfect.

- Lead on.
- Okay.

- Let's do it.
- Grog, it is.

NARRATOR: Later that evening,
Rick, Marty, Matty and Gary

meet with underwater salvager

and treasure hunter
John Brandon,

who has spent
more than three decades

investigating and salvaging
the 1715 Treasure Fleet wrecks.

There's John.

- Gary, how's it going?
- Good, mate. Very good.

- Been a while.
- Yeah, it has, mate.

- Good to see you again, mate.
- How you doing?

JOHN B.: I got interested in
treasure when I was ten years old.

A neighborhood friend of mine
showed me my first silver coins.

I found my first Spanish coin
from the 1715 Fleet

on the beach
when I was 13 years old.

When I was, uh, 17 years old,
Mel Fisher finally hired me,

and I started working
on the 1715 Fleet wrecks.

And this is all
I've ever done my whole life.

And it's been
a lifelong passion,

and I've done
very, very well at it.

I think maybe we're talking
to the right guy, too.

- (laughter) - I get that
feeling right off the bat.

And you know what?
It's not full of chocolate.

- No?
- (laughter)

John, I'll just...
I'll just open with this.

- Sure.
- How old is that coin around your neck?

This coin was minted
in the late 1600s in Mexico,

and, uh, it was on a wreck
that we call Corrigan's Wreck.

I found it on my birthday
one year.

Did you really?

I found 24 of these
big gold doubloons...

- MARTY: Wow.
- One small gold coin,

five 22-karat gold bars

that weighed 13 pounds
altogether.

Oh, my God.

Ten more gold chunks
that were 22 karat

that weighed
another three pounds

and a 135 Spanish
pieces of eight.

As you guys know, finding
treasure is very difficult.

- Yes, yes.
- It's not something easy.

How important is research
to your efforts?

The research is
undefinably important.

When the ships hit
the reefs in 1715,

uh, the seas were 30 feet high,
the wind was 130 knots,

it was a clear
Category 3 hurricane.

They hit the reefs
and literally exploded

and scattered for miles
and miles and miles.

That's what makes it
so difficult

for us to find the material now.

It's scattered
to such a vast area.

So the historical research
is-is invaluable.

You have to have good research.

When the Cabin Wreck sank
right across from here,

it had 125 tons
of silver coins on it.

The Spanish were very good
at their salvage efforts

and recovered about 80% of it.

It still leaves over 20 tons
of silver coins

to be recovered
that we can document...

Not counting contraband,

not counting all kinds of
other things that are involved.

So, I see you've
got some treasure.

I want to see
some real treasure.

Well, I do have
some treasure here.

Right? Let see some treasure.

So we can, uh,
look at a few things.

This is just...
just a variety of material

that comes up
on the wreck sites.

Um, we have...

- a bronze sword hilt.
- MATTY: Whoa.

This hilt was made
somewhere in the Orient

and it got onto the 1715 Fleet.

These are bronze
religious medallions

that come off the wrecks.

MATTY:
Oh, my gosh.

JOHN B.:
All of these came off the beach.

- Those are like saint medals.
- All of these were...

were beach finds.

And they're very,
very beautiful.

MATTY:
Oh, wow.

These are all silver coins...
One day on the beach.

- On the beach?
- One day on the beach.

There's over 200 silver coins
in here... just over 200.

MATTY:
Wow. Amazing.

Gary, we just spent one day
on the beach. What the hell?

I'll show you a few more things
if you're interested.

- Of course we are.
- I'm giving you gold fever.

- Yeah, you are. Yeah, you are.
- You're gonna get up from this table

and go straight to Oak Island
and start digging.

Yep, that is the truth.

I see, um,
you're sitting closest.

Why don't you... why don't you
bring that thing up here

- and put it on the table?
- You know what?

By God, I'm gonna do that.
You know I'm gonna do that.

- Old as I am...
- Don't set it... don't set it on the table too hard.

Old as I am, by God,
I'm gonna do it.

- JOHN B.: Be careful.
- MARTY: All right. Lift with your back.

- (grunting): Holy crap.
- Wow.

- RICK: That's stunning.
- JOHN B.: How about that, guys?

- MATTY: Wow.
- JOHN B.: Treasure.

- JOHN B.: Be careful. That's 80 pounds.
- MARTY: I will.

(straining):
All right. Holy crap.

- Wow.
- Look at that, guys.

How about that, guys?

Treasure. Treasure.

Let's not put
my fingers underneath it.

- Yeah, don't get your fingers underneath it.
- Look at that.

JOHN B.:
How about that? Isn't that cool?

MARTY:
That is spectacular.

That's a silver bar off
the Spanish galleon Atocha.

In 1985,
we found 36 tons of them.

And all the silver bars
were 99.9% pure silver.

GARY and MATTY:
Wow.

NARRATOR: Much like the
ships of the 1715 Treasure Fleet,

the Nuestra Señora de Atocha
was a Spanish galleon ship

which, while delivering riches

back to mainland Spain
in 1622...

disappeared
off the Florida coast

during a violent hurricane.

Both the Atocha
and its precious cargo,

an estimated $500 million worth
of gold, silver and jewels,

were considered lost until 1973
when the wreck was rediscovered

by legendary salvager
Mel Fisher and his team,

including John Brandon.

JOHN B.: There's still plenty
of treasure to be found,

so these are just, um...

MARTY:
What you got there, sir?

Okay, well, it's good to get
a little incentive,

so this is part of what
you guys are looking for.

- MARTY: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
- GARY: Oh, listen to that clink.

- Wow.
- (excited laughter)

JOHN B.:
You're gonna find some gold,

and the gold shines forever.

And it came off
the bottom of the ocean

looking just like that.

MARTY: What would this
have been worth in the day?

- In the day...
- Would this be a guy's week's pay,

a month's pay, a year's pay?

- Probably about six months on a coin that size.
- MATTY: Wow.

- MARTY: That is really cool, John.
- JOHN B.: It's good.

- It's lots of fun.
- MARTY: Really, really cool.

JOHN B.: Get out there
and find some more.

MARTY:
Sounds good.

- John, we want to thank you very, very much.
- Absolutely.

- This is absolutely great.
- Yeah.

You've done a great job
of motivating us now.

We-we had a bad day today...
We didn't find anything...

But we're definitely gonna
give it a good go tomorrow,

probably go in,
looking down there

at the old salvage camp
south of Corrigan's.

There you go. There you go,
south of Corrigan's.

- That might be a good spot to look.
- MARTY: Good deal.

Give it your best shot, guys.

- We'll do it.
- We will.

Here's to a case of those
in the Money Pit.

- Yes.
- There you go.

- Cheers. Treasure.
- Treasure.

- Thank you very much, John.
- Absolutely.

MARTY:
All right, guys.

- Here we be.
- GARY: Yep.

NARRATOR:
The following morning,

in Vero Beach, Florida...

- Today's the day, Gary.
- You got that right, mate.

NARRATOR: brothers
Rick and Marty Lagina,

along with Matty Blake and metal
detection expert Gary Drayton,

are resuming their search
for valuables

and precious artifacts
from the 1715 Treasure Fleet.

I think we should
switch up, right?

- Switch teams? Okay.
- You go... you go with Gary.

- All right. I like that.
- You and I.

- What's the wager?
- How about a full dinner?

You know what? You find
a piece of the queen's jewels,

Marty and I is gonna pay
for dinner.

- MARTY: That's right. That's right.
- GARY: We'd be quite happy to.

Cool. So let's get going.

Let's go find some Bravo Tango.

I'm switching Laginas.

- MARTY: There you go.
- MATTY: Let's go.

NARRATOR: Today, they
are moving their investigation

approximately one mile south
to the site

of one of the original
salvage camps,

which was established
by the Spanish in 1715

for the purpose of recovering
the sunken treasure.

MARTY: All right, Gary.
Are we almost there?

Yep, this is it.

- This is it?
- We are opposite the camp.

- So, right here...
- Yeah.

Couple hundred years ago,
a bunch of Spanish guys

- were salvaging wrecks right out there.
- GARY: Yep.

MATTY:
A lot of tragedy happened here

but also a lot of triumph...
You know, they survived,

and they built a camp
and they salvaged.

- I mean, it-it worked.
- GARY: Yeah.

So, the actual salvage camp

is right here
in between those steps...

MATTY:
Yes. Okay.

And that flagpole to the south.

MARTY:
To the flagpole.

I think the best way
of searching this area is

one team start at the steps,

one at the flagpole,
and walk towards each other.

Okay. All right,
I like that.

And there's got to be all kinds

of coins and artifacts,
especially at a salvage camp.

- Let's get going.
- Okay. Let's find some stuff.

- MATTY: All right!
- RICK: Show 'em what you've got.

MATTY:
Yeah, I'm feeling good.

Let's kick some
treasure-hunting butt.

MARTY:
I'm ready.

Where do we start, Gary?

Somewhere in here?

Yeah, right
at the flagpole, mate.

Okay.

- Okay.
- I'm ready.

Let's go.

- Here, this dip looks promising.
- All right.

The man with the scoop is ready.

- Scoop up treasure.
- MATTY: Here we go.

We could pull one
little thing off this beach

- and put my kid through college.
- (chuckles): Yeah.

- There you go. There you go.
- So...

- (beeping)
- MATTY: Oh.

- Right there, brother.
- That's a chunky sound there.

(beeps)

- RICK: There it is.
- MATTY: Got it.

(beeping)

Oh, wow, yeah, it's
in here somewhere, Rick.

- (rapid beeping)
- Oh.

Look at that color green.

(beeps)

That looks old, Rick.

That looks like the top of a...

- of a spike or a thick nail or something.
- Yeah.

Yeah, you might have a boat
spike or part of a boat spike.

Wow.

NARRATOR:
Finding an ancient deck spike,

one potentially connected
to the 1715 Spanish Fleet,

is an encouraging sign.

That's pretty cool.

NARRATOR: It suggests
that other important artifacts...

Or perhaps even treasure...

May have also recently
washed up on shore.

MATTY: In my world,
this is a top-pocket find.

- RICK: There you go.
- MATTY: Whoo!

GARY: We're walking
in the footsteps of...

- History.
- Yep.

- (beeping)
- MARTY: Aha.

GARY:
That's a signal, mate.

- So...
- Right there.

That's where the center
of the target is, mate.

Uh-huh. I'll put it up here.

All right, where'd he go?

That means it's on edge.

Let me try the pin-pointer.

- (laughing): Whoa!
- Come on.

Look at that.

- MARTY: Wow.
- GARY: That is fantastic.

That's what
we want to be finding.

- MARTY: Is that a silver coin?
- GARY: It could possibly be.

I mean, it's the right shape.

- It's the right color.
- Mm-hmm.

That's a type of find you want.

It looks like... looks like
silver to me, Gary.

GARY:
That is fantastic.

You can tell that's
been there a while.

MARTY:
If you... if you clean that up,

there could be something
written on it, too.

Yeah. It's definitely oxidized.

There's a good chance
that this is Spanish.

It's 1715 Fleet silver.

- Let's keep going.
- Great start, mate.

Just in case.
Maybe two is better than one.

See if there's
anything else in there.

No, I think we're good.

That's a pretty cool find.

That's an amazing find.

Something from
the Treasure Coast.

You know, this is it.
This is why we're here.

- All right.
- Here's the man.

- Hey.
- Losers.

- Ah.
- Any luck?

- What do you got?
- Ask the man.

(laughing):
Today was a much better day.

- You look pretty happy.
- Yeah, man.

I-I don't know.
Well, I don't know.

I hope this isn't another one

of those disappointments,
but we think

we got something
that might be kind of old.

- That's period, mate.
- Whoo!

- That's a ship spike.
- Come on!

- Let's go!
- MARTY: Is it really?

Yeah, that's period. That's
the end of a ship spike, mate.

- There's no doubt.
- Oh, yeah.

- There's no doubt about that.
- Yeah, that's...

Look at it.
I mean, you could see...

That's a... that's bronze
or something, right?

Yeah, it's probably the top
of a bronze ship spike.

- MARTY: Well done.
- RICK: would bronze turn green like that?

- Yeah, that's that patina you want.
- Yeah.

With all those little shells

and little bits
of sand particles...

- I'm impressed.
- As Rick always says,

- it's a team effort here.
- GARY: Well done, mate.

- You've got a bit of a ship there, mate.
- MARTY: Look at him.

- Spanish galleon.
- MATTY: I'm, like, emotional.

I'm literally
emotional right now.

Oh, that is fantastic.
Look at that face.

- Wow.
- MARTY: Yeah, I know.

- Kid from New England.
- All right, well, w-wait a minute.

- We didn't get skunked. Gary?
- Yeah, um...

(chuckles)

I refer to this
as a Batman find.

Batman find?

(humming "Batman Theme")

♪ Matt Man. ♪

Check that out!

- MARTY: That's a piece of silver.
- Oh, whoa.

GARY: I think we've
topped bronze with silver.

- MARTY: With silver. Silver. It's like...
- MATTY: Wow.

MARTY: It's like rock
paper scissors, baby.

MATTY:
Oh, yeah, you can really see it.

Yeah, that's a... that's
a piece of tarnished silver.

- That's...
- GARY: Yeah, it looks like it.

GARY:
More than likely, we've now got

two pieces...

- MARTY: From the wreck.
- Of the Spanish 1715 Fleet.

- Come on!
- Oh, I think we did.

GARY: I know they're
not queen's jewels,

but these are really,
really nice.

People come here
and never, ever find

something like
we've recovered today.

MARTY:
Yeah, for sure.

- MATTY: This is unbelievable.
- GARY: Yeah.

MATTY: Now, when you do
this, Gary, here in your backyard,

you're rocking and rolling,
you're making finds,

you... you know what it is,
pretty much your expertise,

but where do you go
to, like, really find out?

If I'm unsure
of anything like this,

I take it to the local
Treasure Museum.

They see so many artifacts
that are brought in to them.

There is an expert there,
and he will know.

There you go. Exactly.

All right, well,
let's go show it to the pros

- and see what they say.
- Yeah.

- All right, let's go.
- All right.

- Let's go.
- Let's go.

GARY:
That spike is spectacular.

MATTY:
It's incredible.

NARRATOR:
Later that afternoon...

COREY:
Hello. How are you guys doing?

- MARTY: Good.
- GARY: Good, thanks.

- I'm Corey.
- NARRATOR: the Laginas,

along with Matty Blake
and Gary Drayton,

arrive at the McLarty
Treasure Museum in Vero Beach.

I'm gonna take you over here.

We're gonna go meet
my friend John, and, uh,

hopefully, he'll be able to
answer all your questions about

- all the great stuff that you found.
- MARTY: Great. Excellent.

- Okay, mate.
- Perfect. - Excellent.

NARRATOR:
Established in 1971

near the site of the original

survivors' camp
of the 1715 Fleet,

the McLarty Treasure Museum
houses a number of important

artifacts and precious valuables
that have been recovered

by various salvage operations
over the years.

Hello, sir. I'm Marty Lagina.

- How are you?
- I'm John.

- Hi, John.
- Nice to meet you.

- Pleasure.
- GARY: Hi, mate. Gary Drayton.

- Long time, no see, John.
- Yeah, that's true.

NARRATOR: With more than
five decades of firsthand experience

investigating and taking part
in salvage operations

of the 1715
Treasure Fleet wrecks

with Kip Wagner and Mel Fisher,

Dr. de Bry is not only
the foremost expert

on the vast manifest
of lost riches

but he also serves
as the director

of the 1715 Fleet Society.

We've actually just come back
from where the salvage camp was.

- Oh, okay. Okay, good.
- South of Turtle Trail.

Have you found anything?

Yeah, we believe
we've found a couple of...

hopefully artifacts
that you can identify.

Ooh, that looks like a coin.

MATTY:
Oh, look at that.

- That is awful shiny, Gary.
- Hmm, yes.

GARY:
Yeah, yeah, looks shiny to me.

Shiny silver thing.

JOHN D.: You don't see a
design. You don't see a cross.

You don't see a shield.

You-you see nothing, basically.

This looks like a coin, but
I think it's a piece of rust.

- I hate to say that, but...
- Dang.

- No, that's what we want.
- No, no, no. Hey.

That's why we take
the artifacts...

- To an expert.
- To the experts,

- like we do on Oak Island.
- MARTY: That's right.

This, however...

is very, very, very special.

Oh, my God.

NARRATOR:
Ath the Mclarty Museum

in the town
of Vero Beach, Florida,

archaeologist Dr. John de Bry
is examining

what he believes to be
a genuine artifact

connected to the historic
1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet.

So, here we have a piece of
copper which is kind of unusual.

And I'm glad you found this,
because this is really rare.

This is absolutely
a head of a spike.

- MATTY: That's right.
- You can see the, uh, square edge.

- MATTY: Oh, my God.
- RICK: Yeah, beautiful.

MATTY:
Look at all that.

MATTY: That's not a
run-of-the-mill deck spike?

That's kind of special, maybe
ornate or something like that?

Yeah, absolutely.

Generally, for that period,
ships were made in Europe.

Copper had a huge
intrinsic value in Europe.

This definitely is
from the 1715 Fleet.

RICK:
Well done, Matty.

- JOHN D.: Absolutely.
- Yeah.

To find such a spike
is kind of special.

That's fantastic. Wow.

We found a piece
of the 1715 Fleet galleon.

MATTY:
It's incredible.

- Well, Doctor, this is phenomenal.
- MARTY: Yeah, it's great.

Thank you so much
for your expertise.

And thank you for letting
the good guys win tonight,

and, uh, better luck
next time, fellas.

- You're a wealth of knowledge.
- What can I... what can I say?

This has been phenomenal.

I mean, we-we actually...
we did it.

I mean, we did it.
This is great.

Thank you so much.

There's your piece of rust.

- Yeah.
- And there's your...

Our historic piece of...
Hey, that piece of rust

could've come from
the 1715 Fleet, right?

- Absolutely.
- Nice. There we have it.

- We're back in the game.
- Absolutely.

- So it's a bottom-pocket find.
- (laughter)

- Absolutely.
- I learned...

I learned how to do this move
from the best in the business.

(laughter)

RICK:
Dr. de Bry, thank you very much.

- Appreciate your time.
- JOHN D.: My pleasure.

GARY:
I've always wanted you guys

to come down here
and to see this story.

And, of course,
go in search of treasure

but to realize that it's not
just about the treasure.

It's about the story.

Just like Oak Island.

A true treasure hunter
in the conventional sense, John,

his initial treasures he put
on that table surprised me.

I mean, he had gold
and he had silver

and he had bricks of silver,
but the things he put

on the table first
weren't those things.

- They were not.
- They were basically things

we've sort of already found
on Oak Island.

They were bits and bobs
of everyday life.

And he considered those
treasure for sure.

Yes.

RICK:
This trip was fantastic.

We got a little bit
of actual treasure hunting in.

That's like
the icing on the cake.

This has been
a fantastic adventure

with my favorite
treasure hunters,

and I want to know
when you're coming back down.

Oh...

Next hurricane, Gary.

Yeah, we'll watch that weather.

GARY:
Hey, can we just call ourselves

the Fellowship
of the Dig South now?

- MATTY: Yes!
- (laughter)