WHO ARE WE?
Some of us knew a famous treasure hunter whose motto was “Today is the day.” When Mel moved to Florida in 1963, an uncle of ours (Rupert Gates), a cartographer by profession, became one of Mel Fisher’s first partners and backers. Ever since then, for better or worse, our family has been involved with the 1715 Fleet (recently celebrating the tercentenary of its tragic loss). Like Rupert, we are academics and numismatists who fell in love with the complicated and tragic story of the 1715 Fleet. While living and teaching on Florida’s Gold coast, we got to know the people of Real 8 and Treasure Salvors. Characters all, they were still gracious enough to invite us to dive with them on the treasure-laden sites of the Fleet. In those halcyon days, every July seemed to promise another “Carpet of Gold.” Most of us cannot devote our lives to traveling the world and diving for treasure. What we can do is build a personal and tangible connection to tragic events like the loss the 1715 Fleet through the coins and artifacts we collect. Unless time travel becomes a reality, these coins will remain our best portals to the past. Today is the day to treat yourself to a piece of history.
(Rup and Moe Molinar, July, 1964)
We are numismatists and historians with over four decades of experience specializing in the gold & silver coinage of the Spain’s New World Empire. The current Gold Cobs Research Collection was begun in 1981. We continue to find Spanish Colonial coinage a challenging and rewarding field of study. We enjoy helping people discover this fascinating area of numismatics. Getting started right is one of the keys. We have long been a vocal advocate of certified gold and silver Spanish Colonials. Collectors deserve the insurance that third party grading and authentication affords. If you would like to build a significant collection, or just acquire few pieces of history, we are ready to help you learn and build your collection. Please EMAIL US or call us at 480-595-1293.
Above is a small piece of how the Great Florida Gold Rush of ’64 began. Mel and Rup contracted with Real 8 to salvage “Colored Beach” (as it was then known) in the spring of 1964. By late May their decks were awash in Spanish gold. Some of this history is in Kip’s Pieces of Eight, but the full story is yet to be told.
Here is I am, Phil Flemming, chairing a session of distinguished archivists at our Vero Beach Conference. To my right is Dr John Debry and to left are Dr Gene Lyons and Jorge Proctor. The topic was the archival story of the loss of Ubilla’s fleet. Some of this history is in Kip’s Pieces of Eight, but the full story is yet to be told.
Collector WANT LISTS are welcomed. If you are looking for Fleet material or other quality gold & silver Spanish Colonials, you might consider sending us a want list. Want lists get priority. Want list clients will be notified before an item they are seeking is listed on this site. By the way, each of gold cobs we sell comes with a photo-certificate authenticating it, detailing its provenance, its rarity, its provenience if known, and giving any other information available about the coin. Here is a sample photo-certificate. Our guarantee of authenticity is absolute and without time limit. No one is infallible, but we are proud to say that we have been doing this for many more years than PCGS or NGC and without a mistake.
Here I am again at our St Augustine Conference with the distinguished archivist Jorge Proctor. The St Augustine Conference ranged widely over the first Spanish settlements in Florida.