1964–65 Volume 89 No 1–5 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

Florida DeltaAlumnusSHARES IN FINDOF SPANISH COINSBissell Shaver, II Is One of QuartetLocating Sunken TreasureBISSELL SHAVER, II (Miami-Fla. '58) isone of four young men who have receivedworld-wide publicity as a result of finding ahuge sum of sunken Spanish coins on the bedof the sea off the Grand Bahama Islands. Thevalue of the treasure being recovered was estimatedto be in excess of ten million dollars ina feature article appearing in the national magazine,Look in its March 9 issue.*Brother Shaver, a construction engineer byprofession, and his three companions, Dick Tindall,Gary Simons, and Jack Slack, went toGrand Bahama Island about a year ago to inauguratea water sports business involvingwater skiing and skin diving for hotel guests.It was during a period of skin diving thatone of the quartet, Gary Simmons, discovered acoral-encrusted object, an old anchor. On thefollowing day the foursome returned to thescene and found upon investigation that theold anchor and also an old cannon were encrustedwith silver coins. The divers filled anice chest with the old Spanish coins that day.Interestingly, the underwater treasure, reportedto be the largest ever discovered, wasfound in the remains of an old Spanish-boundship out of Mexico which is said to have gonedown off Grand Bahama Island approximately300 years ago. The valuable cargo was onlysome twelve feet under water and very close tothe shore, causing wonderment as to why it hadnot been discovered previously by the numerousskin divers who have made use of the area.Look estimates that the sunken galleoncontained "more than 2,500,000 coins 55more than the contemporary world has everseen," legendary pieces-of-eight and the smaller,* The facts reported in this Bissell Shaver story aretaken from a four page feature story in the March 9issue of Look. TILE SCROLL gratefully acknowledgespermission of Loofi Magazine to reproduce thephotographs and to use up to 300 words of directquotes from the original Look article.The photograph used is a Look Magazine Photo,Copyright © 1965 Cowles Magazines and Broadcasting,Inc.To the management of Look, our sincere thanksfor this courtesy.[318]BISSELL SHAVER, II, Miami-Fla. '58 (lower right)and his three companions examine the thousands ofold Spanish coins comprising the estimated ten milliondollar underwater "find."more valuable pieces-of-four and pieces-of-two,each valued at from |30 to several thousand.The four partners reported their unique discoveryto the Bahamian Government and a determinationis now being made as to theBahamian's share of the treasure. In the meantimethe finders were ordered to locate theboundaries and extent of the wreck but wereforbidden to sell a single coin pending a finalsettlement of the government's claim in thesunken treasure.The huge find has had its thrills for thehappy quartet but it has also had its problems,one of which was the financing and physicalhandling of the find pending government decisionsfreeing the coins for possible sale.Look reports that "to get expert advice,Bissell borrowed money, headed for New Yorkand was almost tossed into the street by numismaticdealers. The piece-of-eight he showedthem was in better condition than any yet discovered,and bore a date not listed in coin catalogs.The dealers assumed it was a stupid bit ofcounterfeiting. One followed Bissell onto thesidewalk, shouting, 'Get out of here with yOurlousy fakel' The American Numismatic Societyaccepted the coin as genuine.''Brother Shaver was initiated into FloridaDelta on March 6, 1955, only a few weeksafter the chapter's installation. He is the son ofa Phi, Philip D. Bissell Shaver who was initiatedFebruary 15, 1926 by our Illinois Zeta(Lombard) chapter which merged with theKnox chapter in 1930 to form Illinois Delta-Zeta. He later affiliated with Illinois Alpha.