$500M Treasure Ship Found In Atlantic
Explorers Believe Colonial-Era Treasure Is Richest In History; Location Of Ship Kept Secret
-
Play CBS Video
Video
Sunken Treasure Worth Millions
Harry Smith speaks to Greg Stemm from Odyssey Marine Exploration about a newly discovered shipwreck with a treasure trove that could fetch up to $500 million on the open market.
-
Photo
Odyssey Marine Exploration co-founder Greg Stemm, left, examines coins recovered from the "Black Swan" shipwreck with an unidentified member of the conservation team Thursday, May 17, 2007, at an undisclosed location. (AP Photo/Odyssey Marine Exploration)
-
Photo Essay
Land Of The Found
Images of some recent fossil finds, from man's ancestors to extinct dinosaurs.
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.
"Rather than a shout of glee, it's more being able to exhale for the first time in a long time," Stemm said of the haul, by far the biggest in Odyssey's 13-year history.
He wouldn't say if the loot was taken from the same wreck site near the English Channel that Odyssey recently petitioned a federal court for permission to salvage.
In seeking exclusive rights to that site, an Odyssey attorney told a federal judge last fall that the company likely had found the remains of a 17th-century merchant vessel that sank with valuable cargo aboard, about 40 miles off the southwestern tip of England. A judge signed an order granting those rights last month.
In keeping with the secretive nature of the project dubbed "Black Swan," Odyssey also isn't talking yet about the types, denominations and country of origin of the coins.
© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.



- 1
- 2
- next
See all 58 CommentsAll of this money should be given to the descendents of slaves, as it was procured during the COLONIAL period when SLAVES were doing all the WORK and gettin no benefits at all. This money must be placed in banks for DESCENDENTS of Slaves to draw from each year a certain amount ? 500 dollars each, to help settle the books.
Seriously, though: the whole thing is a big secret and the photo shows only one open bucket of coins and lots of others unopened. I wouldn't invest in any of this--smells a little too fishy.
Next thing you know, they'll be selling the secret coins online but withholding delivery to keep the coins safe.
GIVE IT A BREAK WILL YA!!!
THANK YOU, alice and gunner.
And CASPER10X, what does it matter? While the institution of slavery was an outrage that should never have taken place, there is no way to link the treasure of this shipwreck to the slaves. Just because it is from the colonial era doesn't mean that slaves were involved in the money. Remember, not everyone in the colonial period was involved with slavery. So calm down.
To those who found the treasure: GOOD FOR YOU!!!!
We're talking about a publicly traded company that has racked up losses for more than 2 years running. Just an announcement like this could make someone more money than actually finding a treasure.
"We have treated this site with kid gloves and the archaeological work done by our team out there is unsurpassed."
Ya, that's why loose coins were tossed into plastic buckets. Guess what that does to the value of these collectibles?
I'm christening the salvage boat "Enron of the Seas."
And considering you have all this freedom now, why do many of your children grow up to be thieves, pimps and drug-dealers rather than upstanding citizens? Not to mention the uncontrolled breeding that's going on in your communities.
Seems all you people want is handouts and keep pulling your race and slavery card instead of getting your act together. You and people like you are an embarrassment to your community.
I can understand what you are talking about to a point, but lets give it a rest, quit looking for a free hand out get off your duffs and go to work.
Sorry, I didn't mean to swear at you.
Yeah, all of it STOLEN from the working people and slaves by kings and Govt rulers for their own use so they could live like big shots in huge castles and mansions while those who paid taxes worked 16 hours a day and lived in huts.
This is good news for me though...Maybe my investment in the company will pay off this year...
Casper,
The descendants of slaves do not deserve anything for what happened to their ancestors. If their ancestors were still alive then they would deserve it but they are not so there. Going by your theory that the blck peole of today are owed because their ancestors were slaves would mean that the MicMac Indian tribe owes me something because they massacred some of my ancestors....Come off it casper. The MicMac indians owe me nothing just like the blacks of today are owed nothing.
In the rare instances when the ownership of slaves by free Negroes is acknowledged in the history books, justification centers on the claim that black slave masters were simply individuals who purchased the freedom of a spouse or child from a white slaveholder and had been unable to legally manumit them. Although this did indeed happen at times, it is a misrepresentation of the majority of instances, one which is debunked by records of the period on blacks who owned slaves. These include individuals such as Justus Angel and Mistress L. Horry, of Colleton District, South Carolina, who each owned 84 slaves in 1830. In fact, in 1830 a fourth of the free Negro slave masters in South Carolina owned 10 or more slaves; eight owning 30 or more (2).
Posted by shutUPfreak at 03:16 PM : May 18, 2007
Speaking of boring! This has to be didntinhale under a new name to be as lame of a troll as this guy. Shoo troll, shoo!
And just so you know, and don't think I am racist, my family helped free slaves through the Underground Railroad.
Posted by whytgrlzrule
...Fu(k dude, give us a break and shut the he11 up, you're BORING man.
Posted by shutUPfreak
WOW, I am SO impressed with your apparent knowledge of the english language. You could have at least used more interesting lexicon. You must make your Mother very vainglorious.
I am not the one who made it about slavery, Casper is ...
BELONGS TO WHO? All of this money should be given to the descendents of slaves, as it was procured during the COLONIAL period when SLAVES were doing all the WORK and gettin no benefits at all. This money must be placed in banks for DESCENDENTS of Slaves to draw from each year a certain amount ? 500 dollars each, to help settle the books. Posted by CASPER10X
"I may be boring but i'm making a point....there WERE black slaveowners and they were NOT always slaveowners in order to free their relatives. If you don't like what I post, don't read it, plain and simple. I think I've made my point though.
And just so you know, and don't think I am racist, my family helped free slaves through the Underground Railroad."
Posted by whytgrlzrule
Did anyone notice your name...whytgrlzrule...sound it out, white girls rule...Gee, would you happen to be a member of a certain group that mainly populates the south?
Wow, your knowledge of the english language astounds me. Where did you go to school so I know where NOT to send my children because I do not want them to learn about hatered such as you have, if your name is anything to go by.
Phoenix, so why didn't you say it in as plain as simple as your last post? And just a reminder this is about a sunken treasure not about slavery. Posted by A-JI
A-J1, I'll apologize to you because you seem to be a genuine person who does not spew hatred like whytgrlzrule. I'm sorry if you thought my posts were too long or too many. But whytgrlzrule need some anger management classes.
If you would like to know how my family helped go here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilmington,_Massachusetts ...There is only a little blurb (Wilmington is also home to the Col. Joshua Harnden Tavern, which served as a stop on the underground railroad and now houses the Wilmington Town Museum.) but it state the facts. Unlike some people (whytgrlzrule) I have fact behind what I state.
- 1
- 2
- next
See all 58 Comments