TAMPA, Fla (WFLA) — State Wildlife officials have found stolen treasure from a shipwreck that happened almost 300 years ago.

Experts in this field said this was a pretty incredible find.

“It’s Spanish Gold coins but it’s actually considered pirate treasure,” said Chris Arbutine, a numismatist.

FWC announced the recovery of 37 stolen gold coins from the 1715 fleet shipwreck. The 37 coins are worth $1 million. Arbutine said this fleet had the most gold coins.

“This is the actual ship that would’ve been searching for the Spanish Galleons from the 1715 fleet,” Arbutine said. “It’s pretty incredible I mean 1715 fleet, they were all the ships gathered safety in numbers, so they would all gather at one point and they would all head back to Spain to bring those coins back to Spain.”

FWC said the gold was stolen in 2015 when contracted salvage operators uncovered 101 gold coins off Florida’s Treasure Coast. In partnership with the FBI, officials said those operators were selling the coins illegally over the last year. Arbutine finds it interesting that many coins are still out there.

“We all like to think about the coins but we all know that if there was ships there were people as well so where they found these coins could’ve possibly been grave sites and the become very archaeological,” Arbutine said. “It shows you that you could be the next lucky person but you got to abide by the rules and regulations.”

FWC said the artifacts will be returned to their rightful custodians. FWC investigators are committed to recovering the remaining 13 stolen coins and bringing those involved in their illegal sale to justice.