Scarce 1715 Spanish Fleet Disaster Newspapers Uncovered

Contains Contemporary Accounts of the Spanish Plate Fleet Shipwreck off Florida’s Beaches, and the Desperate Attempts to Salvage the Gold and Silver Coins and Ingots

Mark E. Mitchell, internationally known dealer/appraiser of original historic newspapers has unearthed four rare copies of The Post Boy from London, England, dating from 1715, reporting on the loss of ten galleons of the Spanish Plate Fleet in a hurricane, directly off the coast of Florida near Vero Beach on July 30, 1715.  These precious newspapers provide first-hand accounts of the disaster, and Spanish attempts to recover the mind boggling amounts of gold and silver coins and precious jewels on board the doomed ships as they sailed from Cuba to Spain.

Mr. Mitchell provided scanned reports from these papers to the 1715 Fleet Society, an organization dedicated to promote public awareness and scholarly study of the Spanish Treasure Fleet disaster.  The Society posted the accounts on its website, and publically thanked Mr. Mitchell for “this fascinating archival information.”  The new discovery helps mark the 300th anniversary of the Spanish Treasure Fleet sinking.

Mr. Mitchell said: “These scarce newspapers are the closest any of us can ever approach – one of the few ways we can 'relive' what happened to the Treasure Fleet, and the desperate attempts to salvage the enormous treasure Spain was counting on for its economy. After 300 years, the idea of finding sunken treasure still captures our imagination.” Just last month some $4.5M in gold coins was recovered in shallow waters just off the Atlantic Coast.  It is estimated that some $400 million in treasure remains to be discovered, and the search for coins, jewels and gold and silver ingots continues unabated.  “I call it the Florida Treasure Fleet Gold Rush,” Mitchell said.

Mr. Mitchell, located in Bradenton, Florida, is a retired U.S. Navy Commander, and a renowned dealer and appraiser of the rarest original newspapers in existence. An important selection from his inventory can be viewed at www.collectiblenewspapers.com, and includes the very first English Language newspaper ever printed—“The Oxford Gazette”, dated November 13-16, 1665. 2015 will be the 350th anniversary of this legendary newspaper. Mr. Mitchell also has genuine issues of Benjamin Franklin’s “Pennsylvania Gazette”, and a very historic 1787 Baltimore printing of the United States Constitution. 

Press Release by the B2B Resource Team.