$500M in Sunken Treasure, and Other Great Discoveries Undersea

Fri, May 2, 2008

Business/Politics

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 $500M in Sunken Treasure, and Other Great Discoveries Undersea business
Image from slava

The news broke yesterday that the richest shipwreck of all time had been discovered– over 500 Million USD worth of gold and silver coin–had been found in an “undisclosed location in the Atlantic Ocean.” This is hardly the first time a private enterprise has gone seeking fortune in the deep and been rewarded, and it won’t be the last. A more in-depth look at this week’s big news, and some historical context, after the jump.

“The Black Swan”, Undisclosed Location In The Atlantic

 $500M in Sunken Treasure, and Other Great Discoveries Undersea business
Image from tao_zhyn

This is, of course, this week’s find. Is it the actual name of the ship? No. Will the company that found it, Odyssey Marine Exploration, ever tell us where it was? Of course not. Is it worth more than the GDP of a small county? You bet. Am I talking like Donald Rumsfeld and does that scare me a little bit? Darn right.

The bottom line here is that 500,000 gold and silver pieces came from somewhere, and they’re going to sell for $1000 each. The press is speculating that the wreck is off the coast of England somewhere and represents a 17th century merchant ship, primarily because Odyssey petitioned to salvage a wreck in the English Channel recently.

The Atocha, Near Key West, Florida

 $500M in Sunken Treasure, and Other Great Discoveries Undersea business
Image from bigdog3

The Atocha: at the time, the richest shipwreck in the world, was a Spanish galleon that sank in 1622 as a part of what was deemed the “treasure fleet” - a group of ships that were all loaded heavily with gold bars and coins. The Spanish managed to salvage one of the ships, the Margarita, but the Atocha was lost until 1985, when a treasure hunter named Mel Fisher spent 16 years looking for it. Upon his discovery, the state of Florida seized most of the treasure, and Fisher fought a legal battle that carried to the Supreme Court in order to gain the rights to profit from his work.

Captian Kidd’s Adventure Prize, Dominican Republic

 $500M in Sunken Treasure, and Other Great Discoveries Undersea business
Image from 2757

This wreck was discovered by a team of Indiana University researchers, and is a perfect example of that age-old arms race in the undersea world: the archaeologists versus the treasure hunters. Wrecked in 1699, the ship represents the rarest of finds: one that the archaeologists beat the treasure hunters to. Most wrecks have at least some looting on them upon discovery, which is, as you may imagine, a source of tension between the two groups.

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This post was written by:

Ben - who has written 216 posts on Environmental Graffiti.

I'm a freelance writer working in Louisville and Lexington, USA, home of fast horses, big trucks, and lots of people that deny global warming. I graduated from a small liberal arts college, and started a career in sales before thinking that it was awful, and quitting to become a writer. Get your popcorn ready...

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5 Comments For This Post

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  1. willy j Says:

    HAS ANY ONE FOUND , A SUNKEN SHIP, OFF THE EAST COAST, ~~@*I PLACED A NEW YORK DAILY NEWS PAPER {WITH THE DATE I HAD BEEN DOWN THERE} , THAT HAD A WHOLE LOT OF GOLD , SILVER , TRINKETS, AND THINGS!.

    CAN NOT REMEMBER, IF IT WAS THE “{NEW YORK KNICKERBOCKER ** DAILY NEWS** [am edition ?? ] ** POST[or some others that where available at that time ??].

    wrapped it: hopping that it would be found some day,{waterproof} materials of that era any old how?.

  2. w.s. Says:

    Where in hell did they get the picture from???
    Looks like new Canadian coins to me. come on reporters, do your research, and don’t believe (we), ARE ALL DUMMIES>
    If you were working for me , i’d say the donald trump thingy ~~~ you are FIRED.

  3. w. s. is dumb Says:

    w.s.

    douche bag…they won’t even disclose the location of the treasure. But you expect actual photographs from the wreck . You think this website has ACTUAL pictures the day after the story broke? Why shouldn’t they think (we) are dummies? You obviously couldn’t read and comprehend this fairly straight-forward article. UR GAY

  4. Mark Says:

    To Willy J, in respond to your comment, I am asking you. Are you serious about that treasurer you mention a sunken shp off the east coast that you place. That you place this in the New York Newspaper, if you’re serious about this.

    I might be too and you can email me back with interest at handonservices@aol.com

    Mark

  5. Paul @ English Coast Says:

    More details from a news article from a year ago:
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/6671975.stm