Shipwreck Gold - are there any other missing ships

JapanJohn · August 22, 2006 6:31AM

similar to Central America or Republic out there that anyone is currently looking for?

I'm curious as I'm wondering how that would affect the old gold market if another big haul of various dates were to come out of the depths.

John

Fletcher · August 22, 2006 6:35AM

Yes, there are several. I actually spent one year doing just that ... and found a few wrecks, but no gold. I did, however, end up with a bunch of china and other relatively worthless artifacts ... and waterlogged fingers

JapanJohn · August 22, 2006 6:49AM

That's a big safety bottle you're carrying, I assume for deco dives.

I used to dive Rota in the Mariannas all the time and there is a shipwreck there the reef grew over that hasn't yielded any treasure. There's like one bar in Rota and the pro divers would go there after work and I've chatted with them a few times. I'd love a crack at exploring a newly found wreck or preserving one.

I figure there has to be another legendary ship or two that sunk carrying gold.

John

Fletcher · August 22, 2006 6:57AM

I went to Aitutaki in the Cook Islands last month (couldn't find any weenie proofs for Marty though) to do some wreck diving. A friend had given me some GPS coordinates of a couple of "unsearched" wrecks so I rented a boat while I was there and went on a gold-hunt. Once again, nothing. I think that most "unsearched" wrecks now are a lot like "unsearched" lots of silver on eBay. I did, however, scare the hell out of a nice black-tip shark that was lurking in the broken stern of the ship. This one wasn't that deep ... about 100 feet. The top picture though was on a deco hang from a 300+ foot dive. That is a Heliox rebreather on my back

kiyote · August 22, 2006 7:19AM

Flectcher, in case no one has told you, you ROCK...

Man, that looks fun and exciting!

JapanJohn · August 22, 2006 7:28AM

Cool,

I didn't know you could dive that deep on a rebreather. I've hit lots of wrecks in the western pacific and around Guam, Saipan, Tinnian, and Rota. Okinawa only has a couple wrecks surprisingly.

I was pretty sure there must be an active hunt for sunken gold but you never hear the stories, maybe with the exception of the Atocha until the find is made. Just wondering if anyone is aware of any active hunts and what they might contain. I'm looking at buying some old gold and just want to factor it in if it's possible.

John

Fletcher · August 22, 2006 7:36AM

Actually, I know quite a few people that do nothing but that ... you think coin collecting is addicting, try hunting for gold! I still have most of my gear, including the most important piece ... a good magnotometer ... and have been thinking about doing some surveys here in the SF Bay (I recently moved here) ... there are over 100 charted wrecks here and even more uncharted. With all of the gold that was shipped out of here in the 1800's I am sure that some made its way to the ocean floor.

123cents · August 22, 2006 7:37AM

Japanese Sub I-52 was sunk during WWII with 4,400 pounds of gold on it. It was found in 1995 but I don't know if they recovered the gold.

AgMe · August 22, 2006 7:37AM

<< <i>Cool,

I didn't know you could dive that deep on a rebreather. I've hit lots of wrecks in the western pacific and around Guam, Saipan, Tinnian, and Rota. Okinawa only has a couple wrecks surprisingly.

I was pretty sure there must be an active hunt for sunken gold but you never hear the stories, maybe with the exception of the Atocha until the find is made. Just wondering if anyone is aware of any active hunts and what they might contain. I'm looking at buying some old gold and just want to factor it in if it's possible.

John >>

There's another one off of Florida (where they're bringing stuff up), the crew "discovered various items" once the rights were settled with the US gov (from when they first discovered the wreck).

mrearlygold · August 22, 2006 7:38AM

shirohniichan · August 22, 2006 8:05AM

<< <i>Japanese Sub I-52 was sunk during WWII with 4,400 pounds of coin on it. It was found in 1995 but I don't know if they recovered the gold. >>

Wikipedia article.

I wonder if Tidwell ever recovers the gold.

Fletcher · August 22, 2006 8:44AM

<< <i>Just wondering if anyone is aware of any active hunts and what they might contain. I'm looking at buying some old gold and just want to factor it in if it's possible. >>

The amounts of gold that could potentially be pulled out of wrecks will have no effect whatsoever on gold market prices. The only people that such finds will affect are the people that find it and the people that slab it

Fletcher · August 22, 2006 12:47PM

<< <i>I wonder if Tidwell ever recovers the gold.

>>

I just read that article ... it is pretty tough to recover anything at that depth even using unmanned submersibles.

291fifth · August 22, 2006 12:54PM

I seem to recall reading a story some time ago about a British cruiser that was sunk during WWI while carrying a huge shipment of gold either to or from Russia.

I have also heard that another treasure ship's location is known (near the Strait of Gibralter) but that there are so many governmental claims on the ship that the treasure hunter is not proceding.

UncleWiggly · August 22, 2006 1:06PM

I like the way Global did the gold coins from the S.S. Central America

Jerry

Shipwreck Gold - are there any other missing ships

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