A FLORIDA treasure hunter has found millions of dollars worth of ancient Spanish coins centuries after they were lost when a fleet of ships sunk in a hurricane while en route from Havana to Spain.

William Bartlett, 51, spotted the 300-year-old gold doubloons while scuba diving off the coast of Vero Beach, Florida as reported by The Guardian.

“The gold looks like it fell into the water yesterday,” Bartlett told the publication.

Among the haul worth $4.5million, were nine rare artifacts, known as royal eight escudos, which were being taken to the King of Spain when the hurricane struck, according to treasure hunter Brent Brisben. 

Brisben’s company, 1715 Fleet Queens Jewels, owns the rights to the wreckage, which it got from the heirs of treasure hunter Mel Fisher.

Barlette will still receive a portion of the value of the coins, and the state of Florida will get 20 percent.

Before the diver discovered the trove, only 20 escudos were known to exist, Brisben told The Guardian.

Bartlett was part of a three-person crew on one of Brisben’s boats when he spotted the sparkling coins in the water.

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The three aboard picked the site clean as it was close to a spot where treasure had been discovered previously.

Coincidentally, Barlett found the cache 300 years to the exact day that the coins had been flung off ships in a hurricane and lost at sea.

“It’s been a magical anniversary year. It’s a tragedy that continues to tell its story every year,” Brisben told the Detroit Free Press.

The team used the boat propeller to blow a hole in the ocean floor to reach eight feet down into the bedrock

The salvage operation took them five days.

Bartlett remodels bathrooms for his day job, but he uses his free time to hunt for treasure.

However, he doesn’t do it for the money, he told The Guardian and declined to say how much he would receive under contract with 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels.

“I’m just a guy on a boat living the dream,” he told The Guardian.

The state of Florida will keep 20 percent of the value of the find.