On May 1st, 1857, during the Third Seminole War, U.S. Army Paymaster Major Jerimiah Yellot Dashiell was traveling to Ft. Capron with $23,000 in gold coins. Due to hazardous sandbars in the Indian River, Major Dashiell was forced to travel by small boat to the Fort; along his journey, a freak wave swamped the boat, sweeping the pouch with all the gold overboard into the sandbar's. Congress granted Major Dashiell relief from the responsibility of the $23,000, but when later in the year Major Dashiell had $13,000 stolen from him overnight, he was forced to sell his home to cover the debt. Major Dashiell would later become the Inspector General for the State of Texas during the Civil War.
In March of 1963, two young teens found Major Dashiell's gold coins along the site of the old Indian River Inlet; soon getting a lease from the state to salvage the site, they reported recovering a total of 582 coins for a total face value of $3,866.50. Unbeknownst to the state of Florida until the salvors sued each other in 1967, an additional 2,700 coins were recovered, which, along with the initial coins reported to the state, had a face value of $23,025.50; the exact amount Major Dashiell lost in 1857. Both men were sued by the state for fraud and forced to give up 55% of the remaining coins with an additional 112 to 120 $20 gold coins sold to a coin dealer in Atlanta to cover a loan from St. Lucie (later Sun Trust, and now Truist) Bank.
Citations:
Clausen, Carl J. (1968) "Fort Pierce American Gold Find," Florida Historical Quarterly: Vol. 47: No. 1, Article 8.
Kleeberg, John M., and Daniel Frank Sedwick. "Untangling the Mystery of the 'Underwater Sea UNCS "Ashley-Gordon Gold", May 2018.