Richest Shipwreck Ever Found Off Colombian Coast? ($1 Billion)

Treasure hunters have reportedly discovered what might be the richest shipwreck ever discovered. If what their claiming is true and the estimates are accurate, the valuables salvaged from the wreck would be worth upwards of a billion dollar or twice that recovered from the current richest haul, that of the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes.

BBC - Colombia says treasure-laden San Jose galleon found

"Great news! We have found the San Jose galleon," the president tweeted.

The wreck was discovered near the port city of Cartagena.

It has been described as the holy grail of shipwrecks, as the ship was carrying one of the largest amounts of valuables ever to have been lost at sea.

Mr Santos said the cargo was worth at least $1bn (£662m).

The San Jose was carrying gold, silver, gems and jewellery collected in the South American colonies to be shipped to Spain's king to help finance his war of succession against the British when it was sunk in June 1708.

The vessel was attacked by a British warship just outside Cartagena.

Colombian officials would not reveal the precise location of the wreck, but Mr Santos said the find "constitutes one of the greatest - if not the biggest, as some say - discoveries of submerged patrimony in the history of mankind"

He said that a museum would be built in Cartagena to house the ship's treasures.

I've read a couple articles about this but there's not a whole lot of information yet — in the English language sources at least. I wonder if the Spanish will lay claim to the treasure as they did with the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes. For those unfamiliar with that incident, here's a synopsis from Wikipedia (ironic considering the treasure was plundered by conquistadors):

A wreck discovered by Odyssey Marine Exploration, code-named "Black Swan",[1][3] has been declared to be the Mercedes. Odyssey recovered almost 500,000 silver and gold coins from the wreck, and transported them to the United States.

The CBC documentary "Secret World of Gold", which traces the history of gold items, referred to a shipwreck found off the coast of Portugal by an Odyssey Marine vessel based in Tampa, Florida. Peru attempted to claim the treasure as being originally plundered by the Spanish. However, a court case decided that the Spanish government was the rightful successor of interest because at the time of the wreck, Peru was considered a Spanish colony and not a separate legal entity, therefore it had no legal standing to be entitled to the proceeds of the lawsuit.

A U.S. federal court and a panel from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit have upheld the Spanish claim to the contents of the ship; Spain took control of the treasure in February 2012.[4] A very small number of coins and effects recovered from the ship were deposited in Gibraltar, because they showed clear signs coherent with an internal explosion on the ship and thus confirmed Spanish claims to the wreck being that of the Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes. They were not returned to Spain until 2013, when a court finally ordered Odyssey Marine to return the missing pieces.

Don't lose heart would be treasure hunters, there are thought to have been about 1,000 ships that went down on the coral reefs in the area during the three centuries of Spanish colonial occupation according this article about the find at Ancient Origins and UNESCO estimates there are as many as 1 million shipwrecks around the world.

Old shipwrecks are always fascinating finds, but if the value is even close to what's being claimed, then wow!

YES! I love it when stuff like this is found.

I'm very glad to hear they aren't sharing the location too, it allows them to preserve it all and keep it away from looters


Super-cool find! thanks for sharing!

All that gipsy gold!!

a reply to: theantediluvian

I always wonder why Spain claims the loot and not the nations they enslaved and stole it from.

originally posted by: Ghost147
YES! I love it when stuff like this is found.

I'm very glad to hear they aren't sharing the location too, it allows them to preserve it all and keep it away from looters


Super-cool find! thanks for sharing!

Yeah, nothing better than the Colombion government with all its corruption being responsible

It's just sad that what has been discovered won't help the people of Colombia

a reply to: Raggedyman

Is your entire purpose on ATS to stalk my posts and disagree with them somehow?

I just replied that the Colombion government is corrupt and untrustworthy

Anymore than that's in your head.

Relax

a reply to: Raggedyman

I see.

originally posted by: (post 1)Raggedyman
Colombion

originally posted by: (post 2) Raggedyman
Colombion

It's 'Colombian' by the way

a reply to: theantediluvian

I like the tension that's implicit between ownership, heritage and national interests.

On the one hand, it seems righteous that the finders should have ownership and be able to sell all on the open markets. On the other, taxes should be paid to the state that owns where the wreck has lain. There's also the debt we owe to heritage and how historical objects should dutifully be save for future generations. Poor Colombia could use the capital raised from sales to prop up its economy or to inject funding into areas that boost industry and agriculture.

All that aside, man, I can't wait to see the treasures in all their polished, cleaned glory. Piles of gold and silver coins are meh. It's the idea of native artwork and jewellery that really catches the imagination. There's bound to be objects in there that tell us more about the cultures there. Of course, I also expect there to be a lot of Spanish influence on much of it, but we can't rule out the chances of finding a great many contemporary artefacts that are untouched by the styles and values of the Spanish.

Yay!!

The article said that the wreck had been known since 1982 and that the original finders were asking for 50%.

originally posted by: pteridine
The article said that the wreck had been known since 1982 and that the original finders were asking for 50%.

Oops! I thought I'd excerpted that part. Thank you!

The location of the wreck was apparently discovered in 1981 by a company which was then acquired by Sea Search Armada. They must have had some sort of contract with the Colombian government because in 2011 SSA sued the Colombian government for breach of contract, seeking "billions in damages." The US court ruled in favor of the Colombian government.

The ship is believed to have been carrying a cargo of 7 to 11 million Spanish pesos.

a reply to: theantediluvian

A golden find.

Liiiiike goooold!

10 Billion dollars in haul, Davy Jones locker is missing a few coins, all this from one Spanish Gallon I gotta ask how the heck Spain and Portugal became so broke, I mean they had a jump start the so called new world was divided by the Pope for them to rule,and within centuries they were rolled back by the Brits and to a lesser extent the Dutch.

originally posted by: Spider879
10 Billion dollars in haul, Davy Jones locker is missing a few coins, all this from one Spanish Gallon I gotta ask how the heck Spain and Portugal became so broke, I mean they had a jump start the so called new world was divided by the Pope for them to rule,and within centuries they were rolled back by the Brits and to a lesser extent the Dutch.

Have you ever been to England, its not the best country in the world for the weather
With the British Admiralty being funded more than both the French and Spanish navies combined and with no shortage of sailors wanting to get out of dodge the poor Spaniards didn't have a chance...

a reply to: theantediluvian

It is interesting that the US Courts tend to take the side against the treasure hunters who actually locate the shipwrecks. A lot of politics and multi-dimensional greed at the expense of common sense.

It may get to the point that the treasure hunters don't report their finds and just loot the sites for the gold, silver, and jewels. Then we all lose because the archeological evidence gets wiped out.

Nice thread. Thanks.

-dex

a reply to: machineintelligence

Everything and everywhere can claim something like this.

How do you reconcile 100k+ years of people stealing resources from others?

Repatriate corn! Tomatos, Potatos!