It took explorers 130 years to find the treasure, but the million-dollar amount of gold and silver treasure has caused many disputes.
Some gold was recovered from the SS Central America
The vast ocean is a place that hides many mysterious treasures. Many treasures lie in ships that sank dozens, even hundreds of years ago. Therefore, shipwrecks under the sea not only attract archaeologists but also treasure hunters around the world.
In 1988, treasure hunter Tommy Thompson and his colleagues found the Golden Ship – the famous American ship named SS Central America that sank to the bottom of the sea 130 years earlier.
During his expedition, Thompson salvaged thousands of gold bars, coins, and valuable artifacts. Most of this precious metal was then sold for about 50 million USD (more than 1.1 trillion VND).
However, this is only part of the huge treasure on the SS Central America – the legendary gold ship that crashed in 1857.
20 tons of gold sank into the sea
SS Central America, an 85m long ship, operated in Central America and the east coast of the United States in the 1850s.
On September 3, 1857, 476 passengers and 102 sailors on the ship left the port of Colon in Panama for New York City.
However, on September 10, the ship encountered a terrible storm, was damaged and sank on September 12 off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, USA. A total of 426 people died, according to the Telegraph.
SS Central America sank on September 12 off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, USA
The Telegraph said S.S. Central America was carrying about 20 tons of gold at that time. It is said to be the largest undersea treasure in American history.
All the “gold and silver treasures” hidden in the ship were determined by The Richest newspaper to be worth between 100-150 million USD (2.3 – 3.4 trillion VND).
The sinking shocked the public and shook the economy. It contributed to the “Panic of 1857” economic crisis in America when New York banks at that time waited in vain for the gold to arrive.
Search for treasure
All efforts to find the huge amount of gold failed until 1988, when the Columbus-America Group (CAG) expedition team, led by Tommy Thompson, located the wreck 2,400 meters below the seabed.
Because the water was so deep, a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) was sent down to search, according to the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA). Although ROV was not a common technology at that time, it helped collect enough evidence to verify that this was the SS Central America.
Tommy Thompson on board to find the treasure of the SS Central America
CAG then salvaged three tons of gold bars and coins worth about $50 million. Among this treasure, there is a gold bar weighing up to 28 kg and hundreds of ancient coins. Many ancient coins are sold for 10,000 USD (227 million VND) each, according to NUMA.
Thompson once described the moment he first saw the treasure in a book: “None of us thought it would be this extraordinary. Part of America’s heritage, this is history hidden in the form of national treasure. And we found it.”
However, Thompson’s joy did not last. 39 insurance companies began suing Thompson, claiming the gold was insured by them and should belong to them, according to USA Today.
Salvage was suspended while the legal dispute was resolved.
CAG then salvaged three tons of gold bars and coins from the wreck
According to NUMA, Thompson never shared the money from the gold coin sale with the search team and investors. He said the money was spent on legal activities and bank loans.
Then the investors sued Thompson. The explorer fled when an arrest warrant was issued. During this time, the court appointed the search and exploitation of treasure to a new organization – Odyssey Marine Exploration.
In January 2015, Thompson was arrested on charges of defrauding investors. At that time, the 62-year-old man was discovered in a hotel in Florida.
By June 2017, he was still detained in an American prison because he had not “revealed” where the mined gold was hidden, according to AP.
Thompson took a photo with the gold he took from the SS Central America
Endless treasure
After taking over the operation of the SS Central America, Odyssey recovered more than 15,500 gold and silver coins and 45 gold bars. They also found gold jewelry and many 19th-century artifacts such as glass containers, cigarettes…
The wreck is too deep for humans to dive, but this will not prevent salvage operations. Odyssey also uses an 8-ton remotely controlled vehicle called Zeus to scan the ocean floor.
“The SS Central America is one of the greatest shipwreck stories of all time,” Odysse CEO Greg Stemm told FoxNews.
Much gold is still lying in the ocean, waiting to be salvaged
A coin recovered from the SS Central America
