Shipwreck yields historic riches -- $500M worth

AP via cnn.com ^ | 05/18/2007 | Staff

[Red Badger]

TAMPA, Florida (AP) -- Deep-sea explorers said Friday they have mined what could be the richest shipwreck treasure in history, bringing home 17 tons of colonial-era silver and gold coins from an undisclosed site in the Atlantic Ocean.

Estimated value: $500 million.

A jet chartered by Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration landed in the United States recently with hundreds of plastic containers brimming with coins raised from the ocean floor, Odyssey co-chairman Greg Stemm said. The more than 500,000 pieces are expected to fetch an average of $1,000 each from collectors and investors.

"For this colonial era, I think (the find) is unprecedented," said rare coin expert Nick Bruyer, who examined a batch of coins from the wreck. "I don't know of anything equal or comparable to it."

Citing security concerns, the company declined to release any details about the ship or the wreck site Friday. Stemm said a formal announcement will come later, but court records indicate the coins might come from a 400-year-old ship found off England.

Because the shipwreck was found in a lane where many colonial-era vessels went down, there is still some uncertainty about its nationality, size and age, Stemm said, although evidence points to a specific known shipwreck. The site is beyond the territorial waters or legal jurisdiction of any country, he said.

[Red Badger]

I was wondering where I’d lost my stuff.........

[blam]

"The site is beyond the territorial waters or legal jurisdiction of any country, he said."

Excellent news.

[wideminded]

Kind of reminds me of the warehouse scene at the end of “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

Everything in that scene except for one crate was a painting.

[N. Theknow]

Hello esteemed friend,
Most recently I have come into possession of many rare coins valued at over $500 Million USD.

Alas, I find myself unable to take them back to my native Nigeria and am most desirous of your help in moving the coins to America and selling them to investors.

Please let me know if this is something in which you might be able to assist me and earn a rather handosme 25% commission for your troubles?

The utmost secrecy and confidentiality is of most importance.

Please reply at yopur earliest convenience.

Yours in Christ

Attorney, Solicitor, President for Life of Nigerian 25th National Bank - Njim Nbaker.

[BigIsleGal]

I spent a dollar once.

[Red Badger]

LOL!!!........I wish I were smart enough to create a “virtual” bank and an account that I could send to these guys. When they opened it up to access the funds, instead of sucking out all my “money” it would suck out all theirs instead!..........

[pierrem15]

The wreck was discovered in international waters, so no governments can claim jurisdiction over the bounty.

Unless it was a warship, in which case I strongly suspect the booty will be claimed by the country's government.

[Smokin' Joe]

The result of this is that nobody will tell where they found anything or just exactly which ship it came from—and so history is the loser

Yes, history loses, but even deeper than that, government policies which take the finds teach kids not to even dream of finding treasure that might be in their area, just because there would be no point.

[Sam Ketcham]

Great. We will soon have millions of “new” citizens living below the poverty level. They can use the gold.

[Tallguy]

You can bet that multiple governments will enter their ‘claims’ any time there is a find of this magnitude. Vultures.

[centurion316]

If she is HMS Sussex, as I suspect, then she is indeed a warship, and a war grave to boot. This is apparently why this salvor entered into a negotiation with the British government and has agreed to spilt the cargo in exchange for permission to conduct the salvage operation. I believe that this is also what was done with the sister ship of HMS Belfast, lost during WWII enroute to Murmansk with a load of gold bullion.

[bannie]

I earned a dollar once.

[No Blue States]

Wow, what a find.
I wonder what type of coins they are..all 400 years old and uncirculated?

On the other hand minted coins looked like crap in the 1600s, understandably. Like this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=ViewItem&item=160098518978

[azhenfud]

"But, according to the two Muslim sailors who were the only survivors from the crew, the mast smashed to pieces while the vessel drifted, took on water and, eventually, plunged to the bottom of the ocean."

Jihaded crew?

[rdl6989]

This is hugh. I love stories like this.

[Drammach]

I met an Idolerator once...

[rbosque]

I made a dollar once.

[Red Badger]

The gov’t will take it if you ain’t keerful......

[rbosque]

Too late! ;-)

[Blue Highway]

The funny thing is the record breaking bounty from the shipwreck will probably be similar (or maybe less) than the proceeds of Pirates of the Caribbean III at the box office.