April and Robert Lewis Knecht, owners

Cannon Beach Treasure Co.

148 N. Hemlock St., Suite A

Cannon Beach

Ever want to get your hands on some buried or sunken treasure??Cannon Beach Treasure Co. might be the only place in Clatsop County to do so. Co-owner Robert Lewis Knecht has been diving for more than a quarter century, bringing back anything from pots to pieces of eight, the spanish coins worth and sometimes cut into eight reals. The shop is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. For more information, call 503-436-1626 or visit www.cannonbeachtreasure.com

What do you do?

April: We sell sunken and buried treasure, things that are recovered from all over the world. Most of what is here tends to be recovered items, especially the Spanish pieces of eight. Robert dived on Spanish galleons for almost 20 years, recovered pieces of eight, and a lot of people, thats what theyre coming to see. There are artifacts here from just about seven continents now. It really depends on what the regulations are in those locales.

How did you get started doing this?

April: I lived and worked over in Europe, so Ive always loved history. Any time you live in a place where history is a part of daily life, you can really get interested and hooked really quickly. I didnt start doing it professionally until I met and married Robert.

Robert: I actually got started doing this by writing a couple books about fishing. I was selling them at a boat show, and I wound up right next to Mel Fishers team who had just discovered a Spanish galleon named the Atocha off of Key West that sank in 1622. I was an EMT/firefighter at that time and wrote for the local newspapers. There was a group of folks that were going to the Arctic to look for a whaling ship that sank in 1897. So I (became) their medic and photo jounralist. Then after that, one thing led to another. I knew I was out there a ways when we were flying over polar bears 250 miles inside the Arctic Circle.

What is the volume of your business?

April: We host several thousand people a month. One of the first things we need to do is orient people to what theyre looking at. Theyve probably seen something like it on television or experienced something like it at a museum, but theyre not used to seeing this breadth and depth of different things and so many centuries and so many areas of the world represented. We have collectors that start with us at literally 4 and 5 years old, who have saved up their money, and theyre coming in the summertime to get their first piece of treasure. Then we deal with people who I call our taller collectors who are looking for that one-of-a-kind piece that has a much different value.

How does the economy affect your business?

April: We started a couple of years ago, so everybody cautioned us that this is the worst time to start a business. Our philosophy is that in some ways its the best way to do it. I think its wise to have price points in every range. Just because something is old, is an antiquity, is an interesting thing to have, doesnt mean that you cant find things that you can offer in different price points. We have things that start for our junior collectors at $12 that are 1,000 years old and totally amazing, up to those things that are one-of-a-kind, and the value reflects that.

Edward Stratton