News: Treasure hunters in dispute with Spain
spoon
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<< <i>Treasure hunters in dispute with Spain
The playground legal principle "Finders keepers, losers weepers" is being put to the test in an international dispute over what could be the richest sunken treasure ever found: 17 tons of silver coins brought up from a centuries-old shipwreck.
A Florida treasure-hunting company, Odyssey Marine Exploration, found the wreck at the bottom of the Atlantic and argues that the age-old law of the high seas entitles the finders to most or all of the booty, said to be worth around $500 million.
But the government of Spain suspects the ship was Spanish and says it has never expressly abandoned any of its vessels lost at sea. The kingdom has made it clear that if the treasure does have some connection to Spain, it wants every last coin returned.
... continued. >>
It would be funny, supposing Spain wins full rights to the treasure (unlikely), if, say, Bolivia, home of the Potosi mint for one, then sued Spain for custody of the treasure on the grounds that they plundered her natural resources.
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While most people I know consider it wrong that museums and ancient sites in Iraq and Afghanistan is being plundered because guarding these places has low priority during the current wars, there seems to be a different attitude towards shipwrecks. I don't see the difference. It may be difficult to figure out who owns a ship found in international waters, but in any case professional archaeologists should be working on that ship, noone else. With such a huge treasture it should still be possible to sell off some of the coins to cover some of the expenses connected with the work on the ship.
I must say that I agree with the Spanish: if that ship can be identified as Spanish, it belongs to Spain, even when found in international waters. Obviously things would be more complicated had the ship been found close to the US coast.
Marcel
The big "pie in the sky" treasures cause so much hassle.
<< <i>It would be funny, supposing Spain wins full rights to the treasure (unlikely), if, say, Bolivia, home of the Potosi mint for one, then sued Spain for custody of the treasure on the grounds that they plundered her natural resources.
And used cruelly treated slaves to do it.
"The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media" - William Colby, former CIA director
My OmniCoin Collection
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Tom, formerly in Albuquerque, NM.
<< <i>The laws of salvage is that an individual who risks himself and his property voluntarily to successfully rescue the property of another from peril at sea and restore it to him has bestowed a benefit on the owner and should be rewarded by the owner commensurate with the magnitude of the benefit bestowed. i.e if ownership can be demonstated by Spain then on returning the property to Spain the salver should be compensated. If they just take the loot and run that then becomes piracy
Well OK, then.
BTW, Spain just demanded that all VIGO and LIMA British coins be returned to the Spanish Crown.
BULL!
Why weren't the so-called pansy archaeologists ALREADY working on that ship?
1. They didn't know where it was.
2. They wouldn't go after it due to the extreme cost, even if they stumbled upon its location
3. They already have host of sites planned, and might have gotten around to looking for it by 2525.
4. They never conceived of ever making an attempt to find the ship.
5. Even if they did try to find it, they would have run out of money before they found it.
6. And if they didn't run out of money, they would have considered it "economically unrecoverable" IF they found it.
7. Any idiot with half a brain knows that Spain had already considered it lost forever, despite what the bird brains say!
It ALL should go to the company that expended huge sums of money to first locate it, then spent more large sums to recover the LOST treasure, and now are spending even more money, defending their right to the property against every conceivable opportunist in the world, including the nation of Spain, who didn't give a rat's keister, until someone found and recovered it.
Finally, to the poster who made that foolish statement, be it known that you now have in your possession my rare coin collection, which was stolen, but never abandoned by me!
NOW, GIVE IT BACK, OR I'LL SEE YOU IN COURT!
However, I will consider a settlement of say 25%, and then charitably let you keep the rest.
Take a college course in logic, since you obviously are extremely lacking in that arena, and stop giving away other people's hard earned assets!
<< <i>Finally, to the poster who made that foolish statement, be it known that you now have in your possession my rare coin collection, which was stolen, but never abandoned by me!
NOW, GIVE IT BACK, OR I'LL SEE YOU IN COURT!
However, I will consider a settlement of say 25%, and then charitably let you keep the rest.
Take a college course in logic, since you obviously are extremely lacking in that arena, and stop giving away other people's hard earned assets! >>
That is a rather strong reaction IloiloKano. Do you have a personal connection to this story or a similar story?
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
If they are basing their reasons on ownership prior to sinking - the point of it actually belonging to South America is well made. Afterall, they probably never expressly abandoned their ownership of precious metals, either... so when you tally up all of what was taken, and tack on a reasonable rate of interest, I'd say Spain best cut their losses and say 'mi malo'.
<< <i> If they are basing their reasons on ownership prior to sinking - the point of it actually belonging to South America is well made. >>
I'm sure Spain at the time of the sinking were of the opinion that they were the masters of and owned that particular part of South America where the silver etc came from and of course North America was just a barren wasteland when the europeans moved in.