Recently while traveling in Texas, I had the opportunity to visit the Mayborn Museum at Baylor University in Waco. The museum, which hosts a variety of historical and scientific exhibits throughout the year, is currently the venue for the Odessy's SHIPWRECK! Pirates & Treasure display through September 16th. One of the features on display at this exhibit included an assortment of Seated Liberty silver halves recovered from the shipwreck of the SS Republic. What was fascinating (and quite mysterious) about these silver coins was the puzzling condition of each piece. Though one would assume sunken sea-treasure would include layers of grime and salt deposits, these coins are much more of which you would find gracing the display counter of a coin boutique. The passenger and merchant steamship, SS Republic, which sank in 1865, dragged its cargo of silver and gold coins to the bottom of the Atlantic seabed, a depth of roughly 1,700 feet (518 meters). While the precious cargo sat on the seafloor, much of the coinage accumulated the customary amounts of deposits and silt. However, these specimens, which were found within a wax-lined wooden box, are rare and shining survivors of time and shipwreck. The coins, graded by NGC from MS 61 - 64, stand as proud as any coin-show counterpart and it is extremely difficult to imagine that they sat in a box at the ocean floor for over 100 years.
Thanks for posting this! Back in 2005, when NGC was in the process of conserving the coins and artifacts, collectors at that time were still allowed to make appointments for submitting their coins in person. I used to take advantage of this because I lived a little more than an hour to the south. I happened to be there the day that the "suits" from Odyssey Marine were there to take possession of the coins. Although I didn't actually see any of the coins, I did see the stacks of boxes piled about 2' x 3' x 2' on the floor which represented about $50,000,000 or so. Security was very high, so I was asked to wait outside. The head of NGC security asked me if I would like to see some of the artifacts that were being conserved. Naturally, I said yes. The room was about 15'x20' and there were all sorts of items in various stages of conservation......shoes, china, ship's portholes, silverware, etc. But, the most awesome part of this conservation effort was the ship's bell which was being suspended in a solution intended to remove the effects of the salt water. It was about 18-24" high, and you could clearly read the ship's name....USS TENNESSEE. You see, this was a Confederate ship during the Civil War, and the name wasn't changed to the SS REPUBLIC until after the war ended. Chris
That's a great piece of information that they didn't cover at the exhibit! It's also excellent that you were in the same building as these coins and the rest of the 'booty' when they were reclaimed by the finding party.
Every one of the SS republic coins I have ever seen were all harshly cleaned and covered with hairlines. (Almost like they were wire brushed, and they might have been. That's why they are NOT straight graded but are listed as having "Shipwreck Effect" meaning corroded and harshly cleaned.) If they were not from the SS Republic and highly promoted they would be >$100 coins instead of the $700 - $1500 level I used to see them at. Hmm these seem to be straight graded. Standards slipping again, or something done special for the display?
Looks like I need to go on a road trip. Thanks, for the heads up on the exhibition. While you were in Waco did you get by the Woolly Mammoth site? Recently (July 10, 2015) it was named a national monument.
They had an excavation site of an adult and calf Mammoth. The site was covered by glass and you could walk over the whole site; very cool.
Cool exhibit. I read the book they put out a few years ago. Lost Gold of the Republic. Pretty interesting. They had to go through alot. The coins were stored in barrels and were still fresh. Most only a few years old or less. They were enroute from NY?? I believe, to New Orleans to help replenish funds shortly after the Civil war, when it went down in a storm.
