I found a gold coin while diving
A diver’s treasure hunt in the Florida Keys led him to an extremely valuable ancient relic.
Zach Moore is an engineer and diver at Mel’s Fisher Treasures, a museum of aquatic wonders in Sebastian, two hours north of Miami.
“Diving for gold is in my blood,” Moore told the Miami Herald.
“I just need to get back out there so I can find more.”
He took a trip 30 feet into the Nuestra Señora de Atocha, a shipwreck dating to 1662, which led him to a coin worth $98,000.
He was “ecstatic” after making more than one rich discovery, but his search never ends.
The passion for treasure hunting runs deep in his genes.
FAMILY TIES
Moore’s parents had met in the 1980s on a team of shipwreck experts who discovered the same wreck in which he had found the rare coin.
During the dive, he was using a metal detector when suddenly a ringing sound led him to a shiny silver coin.
However, after he picked it up, he noticed something else a meter above him.
The gold coin was wedged in a tiny opening in the bedrock, but Moore’s eyes could see it.
He described the coin as beautiful, shimmering in the sunlight and having a tall and slender cross pattern in the center.
“It was a little sparkle and a splash of that yellow gold,” he said.
His manager and other members of the community were amazed.
“This is a pretty incredible find,” said Kim Fisher, Mel’s son and CEO of Mel’s Fisher Treasures.
“It’s the first gold coin in 20 years.”
The Abandoned Spanish Fleet now has 121 bagged coin finds in its scorebook.
“Gold glitters forever,” Moore said. “It looks and feels exactly the same as the day it sank 400 years ago.”
More rare finds
Treasure hunters don’t necessarily have to be competitive scuba divers or experienced galleon historians.
There may be some coins worth a lot of cash lurking around your home.
Social media sites have become platforms for experts and ammeter coin reel hunters to share their best tips.
A coin hunter showed TikTok followers an unusual mistake that resulted in her penny being worth $5,640.
It was all about the weight of the coin as normal pennies weigh 2.56 grams and this one was 3.1 grams.
Items buried in drawers or deep in dusty attics can lurk as little hidden home treasures.
Depending on their condition, old technical devices or classic toys can trigger more than just nostalgia.
And one lucky poker player turned his pocket money into a fortune with an $80,000 coin.
Meanwhile, this farmer generously shared a fortune of $2.4 million in gold coins with his best friend.
