A chance encounter with a fisherman has led one team of treasure hunters to discover what they believe is the oldest shipwreck in the Caribbean.
And after only diving the site - located off the Dominican Republic coast - a handful of times, the team at Deep Blue Marine has unearthed some serious treasure.
At the last count Captain Billy Rawson and his crew had uncovered 700 silver coins that could be worth millions, jade figurines and even a mirrored stone that was possibly used in Shamanic rituals.
Super cool! What a great find. I recommend checking out the article - it has several good pics and interesting info on the finds. Thanks for posting this, LC!
Modern-day treasure hunters say they've found a sunken ship off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass., holding one of the biggest fortunes ever discovered in the ocean depths.
"There's 71 tons of platinum, there's some gold ingots and there's also some uncut diamonds, industrial diamonds, that were on the Port Nicholson," said Capt. Gary Esper. He's one member of the team hoping to bring the goods to the surface. "I like to call us explorers rather than treasure hunters because treasure hunters have a bad name these days so we just went out there looking for the ship," said Esper.
It was no easy task for Sub Sea Research, co-owned by Greg Brooks, based out of Portland, Maine.
"It was extremely difficult. We spend almost three months looking for it," said Brooks.
"A few days before I almost pulled the plug."
The discovery was made in 2008, but the crew kept quiet while resources and initial legal rights were secured.
The S.S. Port Nicholson was torpedoed by a German U-boat in 1942 during World War II. According to Esper, research shows the vessel drifted before finally sinking, plunging 700 feet into the depths of Georges Bank, a popular fishing channel littered with shipwrecks and known for strong currents and turbulent weather.
The British merchant vessel's cargo, a payment of precious metals from Russia to the United States, is estimated to be worth $3 billion, but bringing the find to the surface won't be easy.
"Difficult. Very difficult. The pressure is immense down there. It is diveable, but it's a very scary dive," said Esper.
Instead, the team will use a remotely operated vehicle, a submersible robot with a claw, to grab its find and bring it up into the light.
The search has already cost millions of dollars. Wealthy investors are hoping for a big payday, but there is no guarantee.
Maritime law is complicated. Britain has yet to decide whether or not to file a claim on the cargo, waiting for the salvage operation to begin, and with so much money at stake legal experts expect a battle likely involving multiple parties.
"When you talk about as many zeroes as there are in a billion-dollar claim, that is going to invite all sorts of people to come in out of the woodwork," said David Farrell, a Cape Cod-based lawyer who specializes in maritime law.
"There is a concept of 'finders keepers' in maritime law, but that really applies to ships of antiquity and wrecks that are in the Mediterranean maybe going back to Venetian days where it's impossible to trace ownership. But here with a wreck that's only 70 years old, certainly there's going to be owners and underwriters and state government and federal government and foreign governments that are going to be very involved in getting a piece of those zeros."
The finders in this case want to be the keepers. Ultimately, who owns what could be the richest treasure find in history will likely be decided by a federal judge.
Despite finding the treasure and spending more than $2million to recover it, a federal judge on ordered a deep sea salvage company to turn over $500 million worth of Spanish coins it recovered from a shipwreck to the Spanish government within a week.
The Civil Guard said agents would leave within hours to take possession of the booty, worth an estimated $504 million, and two Spanish Hercules transport planes will bring it back.
But it was not exactly clear when - Monday or Tuesday - the planes and the agents would leave Spain.
A metal detector enthusiast who found a 2.5cm gold brooch in a farmer's field is celebrating after it was identified as a medieval piece of jewelery worth £25,00.($60,000)
Shaped like a heart - and with two hands clasped together in decorative sleeves at its base - this piece of jewelery may be tiny but it was to prove an enormous find for one lucky metal detector enthusiast.
Stan Cooper, 60, unearthed the 2.5cm gold brooch beneath the soil in a farmer's field near Sandbach, Cheshire - and was initially unaware of its true provenance.
But the item - no bigger than a pound coin - has now been dated to between 1350 and 1450 WOW! and is thought to have originally been a betrothal gift because the hands appear to be male and female.
The brooch was reported to the authorities and then sent to the British Museum for experts to examine.
And because the Crown disclaimed it, there was no need for a treasure trove inquest and it is free to be sold.
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