Another Shipwreck Trove

ms70 · October 4, 2019 1:07PM

1840 shipwreck reveals trove of gold coins that could be worth millions

_A steamship that sank in 1840 after colliding with another ship off the coast of South Carolina contains a trove of rare gold coins, according to the dive team salvaging the wreck.

The SS North Carolina sank on July 25, 1840, after colliding with its sister ship, the Governor Dudley.

In a statement, Blue Water Ventures International and Endurance Exploration Group explained that the dive team and the recovery vessel arrived at the site in late September. “Gold coins, marble, dinnerware, and brass spikes, used in the ship’s construction, were among the first shipwreck items to be found,” they said._

https://www.foxnews.com/science/1840-shipwreck-reveals-trove-of-gold-coins

291fifth · October 4, 2019 1:36PM

Let the lawsuits begin!

ms70 · October 4, 2019 1:37PM

@291fifth said:
Let the lawsuits begin!

Yeah, really.

Namvet69 · October 4, 2019 1:43PM

I say finder's keepers. Let them enjoy the fruits of their labors. The sooner we can see the loot the better. Peace Roy

ricko · October 4, 2019 1:47PM

I wish I would have found that.... No one would have known about it..... Cheers, RickO

ElmerFusterpuck · October 4, 2019 2:21PM

Cool story and find!

Not surprisingly, the comments posted to it were below worthless. Kinda reminded me of the so-called coin forum on the Open Forum Refuge.

3keepSECRETif2rDEAD · October 4, 2019 2:37PM

@ElmerFusterpuck said:
Cool story and find!

Not surprisingly, the comments posted to it were below worthless. Kinda reminded me of the so-called coin forum on the Open Forum Refuge.

...yep...losers are gonna be losers, no matter how nice their computer setup is at grandmas house

yosclimber · October 4, 2019 3:22PM

19th-century shipwreck is suddenly turning up gold coins off South Carolina coast
BY MARK PRICE
OCTOBER 03, 2019 10:36 AM, UPDATED OCTOBER 03, 2019 11:59 AM
A 180-year-old shipwreck popular with scuba divers is proving to be a trove of rare coins and artifacts for a salvage project launched 20 miles off the South Carolina coast.

Known to divers as “The Copper Pot,” the wreck is actually the Steamship North Carolina, which collided with another boat in 1840 with hundreds of gold coins stuffed in passenger’s steamer trunks.

The first of the newly found coins -- “several” $5 gold pieces dating from the mid-1830s -- were brought up in late September, along with 19th Century dinnerware and marble, according to Blue Water Ventures International based in Florida.

“I can’t believe what we’re finding,” Keith Webb, president of Blue Water Ventures, told McClatchy news group. “The coins look almost as if they were just minted and it’s blowing our minds. It’s because they were hidden by a large piece of copper and were not moved around in the sand by the current.”

Blue Water Ventures and its partner Endurance Exploration Group issued a report that contends “the aggregate loss in money was large” when the ship went down, and would today be valued in the tens of millions of dollars -- mostly in gold coins. This includes one passenger who claimed he lost $15,000 in the incident.

However, Webb’s research suggests these won’t be the usual gold coins found on 19th Century shipwrecks. Many of the passengers were likely carrying coins from the newly commissioned U.S. Mint in Dahlonega, Georgia, which operated only 24 years.

Coins from the Dahlonega mint are rare and coveted by collectors and historians.

“Regardless of denomination, any high grade Dahlonega gold coin with a good strike... is a real treasure and based on past history has been a blue chip coin investment,” according to the DahlonegaGold.com.

The S.S. North Carolina was previously searched for treasure by an outfit called MAREX, which salvaged $700,000 worth of coins in the late 1990s. MAREX ceased working the site in part because the coins were difficult to salvage.

Webb describes the wreck as 65 feet down, with about 5 feet visibility and unexpected shifts in the current. It also has some sharks. Adding to the challenge, he says, is the fact that research shows many of the artifacts settled as much as 5 feet into the sand and need to be dug out with special equipment.

Endurance Exploration has staked an admiralty claim to the wreck, giving them exclusive rights to salvage the site.

Divers have already done months of archaeological field work on the wreck, including magnetometer surveying, Webb said.

Along with coins, he is hoping to find silverware and antique watches that may be preserved to the point of repair.

Recovery efforts will continue -- weather permitting -- into November, he says.

The sinking of the Steamship North Carolina is one of the stranger shipwreck tales off the Carolinas in the 19th Century.

It went down 60 miles south of Wilmington near Murrells Inlet, S.C., early on July 25, 1840, after colliding with a sister ship, the Governor Dudley, The NorthCarolinashipwrecks.blogspots reports.

The Dudley hit the North Carolina “amidships between the ladies’ and gentlemens’ cabins,” almost cutting the ship in half, the blog site says. “Within ten minutes the North Carolina settled to her decks and soon disappeared,” the site reports.

All passengers and crew were hurriedly put on the Dudley, and most had no time to gather belongings in the havoc, according to a report by Blue Water Ventures.

Webb’s research indicates the steamer trunks might have been located in the same part of the ship as loads of mail. The ship is believed to have gone straight down in shallow water and has a large debris field.

The wreck site has long been popular with scuba divers because it’s easily accessible, according to OceanFrontVac.com.

“Copper Pot is a 19th-century side wheel steamer 200 feet in length. At 19 miles offshore, the boiler, shaft and hull are still intact beneath 80 feet of water,” the vacation site says.

Blue Water is committed to searching the site, weather permitting, for several years

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article235661717.html

ChopmarkedTrades · October 4, 2019 3:32PM

Those half eagles look pretty incredible. Wonder what else will turn up, and who will be the ultimate victor in the courts.

SanctionII · October 4, 2019 4:02PM

Are there any similar shipwrecks containing newly minted US gold coins that sunk between 1795 and 1810?

If so that ship or those ships would be fun to salvage.

SanctionII · October 4, 2019 4:08PM

1795.

BryceM · October 4, 2019 4:11PM

Cool..... but it wouldn't take much to move the needle on many Dahlonega issues.

yosclimber · October 4, 2019 4:11PM

@SanctionII - there should be a "gear" button on the upper right corner of your original post - you can click on that,
and then click on "Edit" to edit your original post.

kiyote · October 4, 2019 4:20PM

@ricko said:
I wish I would have found that.... No one would have known about it..... Cheers, RickO

I’d hate to see the find not properly documented and shared though.. imagine if the Saddle Ridge hoard had been melted or hidden

golden · October 4, 2019 4:42PM

Very, very cool!

amwldcoin · October 4, 2019 5:04PM

I'm not so sure those were found on the wreck but used as examples of what they may find. I am curious if those were recovered.

@ChopmarkedTrades said:
Those half eagles look pretty incredible. Wonder what else will turn up, and who will be the ultimate victor in the courts.

scubafuel · October 5, 2019 7:34AM

The cynical side of me says they may have found a few coins and are now milking the publicity to raise capital. The reason is that this wreck gets divers on it all the time, and if this company actually found something substantial why would they publicize that fact only one month from the discovery?

Moxie15 · October 5, 2019 10:55AM

@kiyote said:

@ricko said:
I wish I would have found that.... No one would have known about it..... Cheers, RickO

I’d hate to see the find not properly documented and shared though.. imagine if the Saddle Ridge hoard had been melted or hidden

If I had found the saddle ridge coins on my land while walking my dog i would never tell the media. You would probably learn about it when the Moxie collection of gold was sold at the FUN Show auction.

DelawareDoons · October 5, 2019 10:57AM

I would love to see some nice C or D eagles drop to a point where I could conceivably add a couple to my collection.

I bet that @scubafuel is right, though.

WaterSport · October 5, 2019 11:18AM

It will be interesting to see what affect this discovery will have on the series as far as survivors, condition rarity, etc.

WS

ms70 · October 5, 2019 11:18AM

@kiyote said:

@ricko said:
I wish I would have found that.... No one would have known about it..... Cheers, RickO

I’d hate to see the find not properly documented and shared though.. imagine if the Saddle Ridge hoard had been melted or hidden

It wouldn't bother me in the least........because I'd never know about it!

BillDugan1959 · October 5, 2019 11:27AM

@scubafuel said:
The cynical side of me says they may have found a few coins and are now milking the publicity to raise capital. The reason is that this wreck gets divers on it all the time, and if this company actually found something substantial why would they publicize that fact only one month from the discovery?

I am always highly skeptical too - many wreck divers have made more off of the "investors" than they ever did off the salvage.

Walkerguy21D · October 5, 2019 7:37PM

@BryceM said:
Cool..... but it wouldn't take much to move the needle on many Dahlonega issues.

Since it sank in July of 1840, there could only be C and D mint coins from the first couple of years of operations.

BillDugan1959 · October 5, 2019 7:42PM

I did note that the new issue of Coin World which was posted this morning has a photo of three 1830 vintage U.S. gold coins that are said to be from the wreck.

LanceNewmanOCC · October 8, 2019 2:52PM

.
here is a couple links. I guess the find goes back a little ways.

main page link

semi-gallery

haven't found an inventory list as of yet.

videos at the bottom of the page.

Another Shipwreck Trove

Comments

Leave a Comment