$500 million sunken treasure found

[brian.cunningham]

Tight lipped about the location for good reasons.

http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/richest-shipwreck-treasure-nets-500/20070518081609990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
Richest Shipwreck Treasure Nets $500 Million
By MITCH STACY
AP
TAMPA, Fla. (May 18) - 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.

[TimH]

Bummer they have to give 1/2 of it to England....considering the wreck is in international waters.

[Cullen T.M. McGough]

What?!?!?

Yer kiddin. Are you saying we fought the revolutionary war for *nothing*?

[Paul Pless]

Bummer they have to give 1/2 of it to England....considering the wreck is in international waters.

I've never understood that, can somebody explain why these salvagers (modern day treasure hunters) have to pay royalties on what they recover?

[George Roberts]

They agreed to pay the fees for the sole right to the salvage.

[John E Hardiman]

Bummer they have to give 1/2 of it to England....considering the wreck is in international waters.

That 50% is for the HMS Sussux which went down off Gib, not the coins now being landed. A warship is always sovereign property. Similar to the salvage of the HMS EDINBURGH several years ago.

Edit to add, a merchant ship also remains the property of the underwriters unless they have "abandoned" it, then it can be assigned to a salvor by the court.

[Carlsson Boats]

A good read, if you haven't found it already, is "Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea" about the SS Central America. I think Kidder is the author. It covers history and recovery. Highly recommended.

[paladin]

It's almost like the crap in Jamaica.....they issue permits for diving in certain areas and charge a fee, and then you keep what you find.....they were "selling permits" all over the place, in areas where they were certain nothing would be found....free money....
and then a couple of us found some stuff from one of the ships and suddenly they wanted a share......I left...with the stuff.....a silver sugar dish, five cups and saucers and 4 spoons...all silver (gold lining in sugar dish) with London hallmarks and dated 1741.....

[S.V. Airlie]

Question.. curious.. If the vessel had been insured when it sank.. say by Lloyds.. and Lyods paid oput in say 1760 or whenever, do they have a say in the distribution as well?

[paladin]

you betcha...Lloyds rarely gives up salvage rights....however in recent years there's been a couple of "concessions".....and they are some of the few...very few folks that will insure boats doing circumnavigations, with caveats, and ya better have a good resume....

[brian.cunningham]

Looks like Spain is laying a claim
http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/spain-sues-explorers-over-sunken/20070518081609990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

[donald branscom]

Looks like no one will get anything. Except the lawyers maybe.
It is like the fight over the patent for the laser. Three corporations fight to the end of time. If they split it three ways they would all be rich.

If I had that treasure I would take it out to the ocean and dump it and let them look for it and pay to go get it just like the treasure hunters had to go thru. Of cours you can bet it it is being watched like a hawk now.

Maybe someone will steal it and !!#$@Q everybody.

[Don Z.]

Hm... Just took a course in nautical archaeology...

Without going into a lot of detail:
A warship is always the property of the country of origin, no matter where found. This became really interesting when the CSS Alabama was found in French waters; French claim was it was in their waters, and oh by the way there is no Confederacy anymore. US claim was "our ship, we won the war...". Guess who kept the boat? For those in Seattle, do a search on Navy War Planes Lake Union. Try adding the name Peter E. Hess. It will make for interesting reading.

Once insurance pays off, they own the boat, unless you can prove abandonment. IIRC, in the case of the SS Central America, salvage rights were won based on the documentation of the wreck. In other words, they proved they weren't just salvaging (treasure hunting), but doing serious archaeology work.

[jack grebe]

Define "abandonment"......to me, if they are not actively persueing or occupying it, it has been abandon

[Paul G.]

why say anything? Melt it down and sell it. I would hazard a guess that they found more than they let on......twice as much. How much gold can a treasure ship carry? btw would gold make an awesome keel!

[John E Hardiman]

why say anything? Melt it down and sell it. I would hazard a guess that they found more than they let on......twice as much. How much gold can a treasure ship carry? btw would gold make an awesome keel!

One does not just "sell" 17 tons of gold without a great deal of "arrangements" first. And the cost of those "arrangements" greatly discounts the price. Secondly, the numismatic value is far greater than the bullion value.

[Michael s/v Sannyasin]

why do they have to tie the gold to any particular wreck at all? Granted, coins will have a greater value if you can say they came from some particularly famous ship wreck, but, seems to me that all the admiralty law revolves around the ownership of the ship it was carried in. No ship, no claim!