The $19 billion gold and silver treasure in the “holy grail of shipwrecks” at the bottom of the Colombian sea has become the most sought-after treasure in history.
Researchers have found a “gold mine” in the sunken San José ship off the coast of Colombia – a wreck with billions of dollars worth of gold, silver and jewelry.
On June 8, 1708, the Spanish warship San José, after a bloody battle with four British ships, caught fire and sank to the bottom of the ocean. The British knew the ship was full of gold, silver and treasure, so they wanted to take part of it, forcing the San José sailors to fight for many hours. The treasure ship was dug in Peru and the gold and silver were intended to support Spain and France’s war against England.
After a bloody battle with four British ships, San José caught fire, sinking to the bottom of the ocean with a crew of 600 and a treasure trove of gold, silver and jewelry worth about 19 billion USD at current gold and silver prices. According to the History TV channel, San José is called the “holy grail of shipwrecks”, due to the huge treasure it carries.
Jerry Lee, a treasure hunter with Global Explorations, said: “The San José shipwreck is currently in the waters of Panama – which is famous for being a pirate-infested area in western South America – and it has been there. for a very long time so it stored a lot of gold along with a number of other ships. All of these ships sailed to Cartagena, Colombia at the same time.”
Jeff Kaeli, an oceanographic engineer – who led the research team to explore the San José shipwreck area – said that the ship carried a lot of Mayan gold, silver and emeralds.
For more than 300 years after the battle, one of the greatest treasures to ever set sail remained a mystery. Everything changed in 2015 when the Colombian government commissioned maritime archaeologists and the US Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to find the wreck. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution previously found the wreck of the Titanic in 1985.
The first attempt was fruitless. However, during a second expedition in late 2015, San José was finally discovered. It was a great day for archeology and history, but also sparked a much larger dispute over who was the rightful owner of the ship’s remains and its treasure.
Spain claims ownership of the treasure because the sunken ship belongs to it, while Colombia says the treasure belongs to them because it is in their waters.
Anthropology and communications professor Tok Thompson notes a third argument about ownership, saying that the gold and silver were taken from the Inca Empire.
Treasure hunter John Mattera said the Colombian government “probably has the strongest claim to the wreck” because it is in the country’s waters.
San José and its huge amount of gold and silver became one of the most sought after ships and treasures in history. Divers have not yet recovered the treasure due to the ongoing legal battle. As the dispute continues, much gold, silver and jewels are being lost in the harsh saltwater environment at the bottom of the sea.
