A US court declared that $500 million in silver and gold coins recovered by this country’s treasure hunters from the Atlantic Ocean in 2007 belonged to Spain.
Number of coins found from the shipwreck in 2007. Photo: Odyssey Marine Exploration.
The glittering amount of gold and silver recovered from a mysterious Spanish shipwreck and silently floating along the Atlantic Ocean to the United States is one of the largest underwater treasures ever found.
A Spanish boat mysteriously sank at the bottom of the sea, then silently drifted along the Atlantic Ocean to America. The gold and silver found in this boat is one of the most valuable treasures ever found from the bottom of the ocean.
Until now, the long battle for ownership of the treasure of 594,000 coins has just ended with victory for the Spanish government. American treasure hunting company Odyssey Marine Exploration will help bring this wealth back to Spain.
The Spanish government was pleased to announce this news on Wednesday. The content of the announcement is as follows: 500 million dollars (equivalent to 308 million pounds) of silver and gold found at a location that Odyssey calls “Black Swan” will be brought back to the country within the next 10 days.
“They must return to the Spanish what belongs to the Spanish,” said Spanish Minister of Culture José Ignacio Wert. “Coins must be returned within 10 days.”
The court’s verdict ended nearly five years of Odyssey’s ploy at sea since the company found treasure at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in May 2017. Facing the anger of the Spanish government, Odyssey secretly brought the treasure to Gibraltar and then transported it by plane to the base in Florida.
A US federal court judge has upheld Atlanta judge Mark Pizzo’s ruling that the treasure belonged to the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, a Spanish warship sunk by a fleet of British warships abroad. off St Mary, Portugal in October 1804.
The judge rejected Odyssey’s argument that there was no clear wreck location and the coins were scattered everywhere, so it was impossible to say exactly which ship they belonged to.
This treasure hunting company claims to have begun searching for the Mercedes and apparently they have done so.
Pizzo argues that all the coins existed before 1804 and were identical to the Mercedes coins minted in Lima, Peru – the portion that was sent back to finance the West’s European wars. Spain. He also said the cannons found there also matched those found on the ship.
The legal ownership of the coins that filled these 600 drums currently belongs to Spain and the descendants of the 250 sailors who died when the ship exploded.
However, the whereabouts of more than 400,000 coins from Mercedes are still a mystery.
The treasure was found by one of Odyssey’s remote-controlled robots while it was searching 1100 meters below the seabed.
Odyssey’s decision to use Gibraltar led to tensions in the maritime dispute beyond the reef. Shortly after the coins arrived in Florida, a Spanish warship forced the company’s 250ft Odyssey Explorer salvage ship to dock at the nearby Spanish port of Algeciras for search. The ship’s captain, Sterling Vorus, was arrested, but was later released.
“It is in the interests, and legal obligations of both governments, to resolve both issues in a manner that is beneficial to military exercises. bilateral relationship”, Aguirre spoke to then-culture minister César Antonio Molina in July 2008.
In contrast to the war with Spain, Odyssey made agreements with the British government to recover and share sunken treasure.
The deal to excavate the wreck of what is believed to be the 80-gun warship HMS Sussex, which sank in 1694 carrying up to 10 tonnes of gold, has led to complaints that a unique heritage site is at risk of being misappropriated.
Sussex and 12 other ships in the fleet sank in a storm in 1694 while on a secret mission to bribe the Duke of Savoy as an ally in the war against King Louis XIV of France.
“The whole adjudication process still leaves us with little confidence in what ministers have told us, on the paramount issue of archaeology.” George Lambrick, director of the Council for British Archeology, added that serious concerns remain.
Neil Cunningham-Dobson, a British archaeologist who led the initial tests, denied that the company would damage the site: “Odyssey is one of the best, most reputable companies in the business.” business and use the latest technology.”
Wert said some of the coins will be distributed to Spanish museums. “We want everyone to see them,” he said.
He admitted the only stumbling block to an immediate return could be Odyssey’s further appeal, if it is accepted by a higher court and a stay is placed on the sentence.
Odyssey spokeswoman Laura Barton said an appeal could be forthcoming “Currently, there is no final order from the court to return the Black Swan coins to Spain,” the statement told the newspaper. Guardian said so and did not say anything more.
