(CNN) – The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has recovered 37 gold coins that were stolen nearly 10 years ago.
The coins were taken from the 1715 shipwrecks in Florida and are valued at $1 million.
They had been missing since 2015 when a crew was working on salvaging the shipwreck.
While some of the coins were reported during that process, 50 coins were not. Then, those 50 coins were stolen.
In June, the FWC and the FBI received new evidence that linked Eric Schmitt to the illegal sale of multiple gold coins.
The coins were retrieved from multiple residences, safe deposit boxes and auctioneers who unknowingly purchased the coins.
The 1715 fleet was a collection of Spanish treasure ships that sank during a hurricane off Florida’s coast.
The artifacts recovered from the wrecks provide a window into history and are protected by state and federal law.
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