Pieces of Eight: Recovering the Riches of a Lost Spanish Treasure Fleet

by Kip Wagner, L.B. Taylor Jr. (as told to)

Twentieth-century sleuthing methods are linked with the romance and mystery of the past in this true story of a treasure hunt that has yielded millions. Over 250 years ago a Spanish treasure armada was wrecked on the Florida reefs, and ten richly laden vessels were sunk. In time they were forgotten. In the l 940's Kip Wagner, then a Florida construction man, picked up the first clues to the location of the wrecked ships. They were scarce: occasional blackened silver coins discovered here and there along the beach. But Kip Wagner's imagination was fired, and with the help of his friend and physician, Dr. Kelso, he began the long research and search operations that are described in this engrossing book. They were joined by a small group of other men and formed the Real Eight Corporationappropriately named for the Spanish ocho reales, or piece of eight. Most of the team had other jobs, some of them at nearby Cape Kennedy, and could hunt treasure only in their spare time. But they persisted. The work was arduous, at times dangerous. There were setbacks, disappointments, grueling underwater ordeals. But in time the rewards were sensational -thousands of silver pieces of eight and golden doubloons, silver bars and bullion, gold ingots, gold rings and pendants, priceless Chinese porcelain, a gold necklace appraised by a museum at $50,000, three million dollars in treasure recovered so far by this band of hard-working, adventurous, persistent men.

222 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1988

Reviews

[Rob Smith, Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an over all very good book of the efforts of recovery of the centuries lost galleons of the 1715 Spanish fleet off the Florida coast.

The book starts with the developing interest of, the author, Kip Wagner of potential ship wrecks off the coast of east Central Florida Coast. This is well written along with the following chapter of the history of the fleet. The rest of the book is of the recovery actions and what is found and so many involved. It's the recovery part that I found as not as well written. Appears there was an enormous amount to cover and much is culled to simpler narrative and leaves lots of questions. Especially in that the recovery efforts were still going strong as this was published in '66.

Breaking up the many, many things that happened during recovery almost demands a separate book for each incident, but this volume makes short work of the vast bureaucracy and business dealings. I would have liked to read more of this. Most would be satisfied what is presented. Maybe even wishing there was less of it.

The writing overall is passable. A better writer could have greatly enhanced so much included.

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 7 out of ten points.

[Matthew Smathers · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most entertaining and page-turning works of Non-fiction I've read in a long time. As a treasure hunter myself, I have long drawn inspiration from the works and research of others before me. The trials, tribulations, successes, and motivations contained within these pages are too many to list. Kip Wagner and the 8 Reale Company's discovery of the 1715 treasure fleet in waters off Florida is the stuff of childhood fantasy.

A truly amazing book that I HIGHLY recommend to anyone with interest in anything adventure or treasure related. its a great read and Im actually going to be diving into it yet again!

[Brian Berrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read about a guy who discovers a sunken fleet off the coast of Florida. The discovery and writing took place in the 60s.