Wednesday, 14th May 2008 (629 views)

Eager amateur gold collectors have begun a full-scale salvage of a sunken ship carrying a cargo of rare gold coins off the Florida coast.

Led by four Louisiana residents who obtained rights to the wreckage after stumbling upon it by chance, the salvage has already produced a trove of rare US gold coins minted in the mid 1800s.

Produced by the Dahlonega and Charlotte mints, the quarter eagle and half eagle coins have attracted particular interest from gold dealers.

"Some of these are in uncirculated or mint condition," David Bowers, co-chairman of New York-based Stack's Rare Coins, told the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, Craig DeRouen, who has shared legal rights to the wreckage, said that they had found a variety of both silver and gold coins onboard.

The group funded the salvage after making repeated small scale dives to the wreck to retrieve some of the coins by hand.

According to the Shipping Times, the sunken SS New York was a single screw steam ship capable of speeds of ten knots that was built in 1858.

 

« Back to the stories

 

The news feeds on this site are independently provided by Adfero Limited © and do not represent the views or opinions of the World Gold Council.