Shipwreck effect

I was scanning some Seated Liberty halves on eBay today and noticed one slabbed as S.S. Liberty "shipwreck effect."

What exactly does that mean?

Thanks in advance!

 

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probably underwater for a long time, so had some funk going on?

 

Lived in the ocean for many years. Basically the saltwater had been eating away at it to some extent

 

Probably the same story as with the Republic:

The Republic left New York on October 18, bound for New Orleans. According to her captain, she was carrying passengers and a cargo of $400,000 in coins, mostly in gold $10 and $20 pieces, intended for use as hard currency after the Civil War. The city of New Orleans, captured largely intact by the Union in 1862, had been the southern hub of Federal war efforts and was a thriving, busy city - but due to war, "hard money" (or gold and silver coin) was in very short supply.
On the fifth day of her voyage, a hurricane off the coast of Georgia proved too strong for the ship. By evening, her hull was leaking so badly that the fire in the boiler was extinguished, and she stalled in heavy seas, taking on water faster than her crew and passengers could bail her. At 4 pm on October 25, 1865, she sank. The passengers and crew escaped in four lifeboats and a makeshift raft, but 40-foot seas throughout the night made keeping them afloat a serious challenge. It was not until two days later, on October 27 that the survivors, now desperate with thirst, were found by the sailing ship Horace Beals. On October 29, the steamer General Hooker had been sent to look for the Republic, and rendezvoused with Horace Beals. The passengers were transferred and taken to Charleston. Most of the passengers and crew survived, although several were lost on the raft before they could be rescued. All the coins were lost.
Rediscovery[edit]
In August 2003, the wreck of the Republic was located by Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc., a commercial archaeology company in Tampa, Florida. She was found about 100 miles (160 km) southeast of Savannah, Georgia, in about 1,700 feet (500 meters) of water. A salvage effort recovered about one-third of the rare 19th century gold and silver coins carried aboard, worth an estimated $75 million. Most of the hull of the ship is now gone, but the rudder, parts of the paddle wheel and the steam engine are still present. The search and recovery effort was depicted in a National Geographic Society TV documentary Civil War Gold.[2]
Many artifacts, from the 14,000 salvaged, plus silver coins from the 51,000 coins collected, are on display in selected museums.[1][3] Artifacts have been on display in Tampa, New Orleans, Detroit, Elberta, Hot Springs, and Oklahoma City.[3] The displays also present video stories about passengers and crew members, and where they moved years after the wreck.[1] [3] Lifeboats had been found and rescued at different times.
SS Republic is currently the subject of a lawsuit over the gold recovery, as E. Lee Spence claims in a lawsuit that Odyssey Marine used his information in their efforts to locate the wreck. A judge in South Carolina has ruled that the case may proceed in that state, reversing his own earlier decision.[dead

 

The graders use the term "shipwreck effect" in place of "environmental damage" so the submitter can sell it for more.

Chris

 

It cannot be put more plainly than that.

"Here, I have this Zlincoln with Atmosphere Effect from laying by the side of the road for twenty years. Obviously a value-added feature."

 

Thanks guys!

 

Dunno if this is up to date or not but https://www.ngccoin.com/specialty-services/shipwreck-coin-certification/effect-designation.aspx

 

@Santinidollar
You need to know that treasure coins found in ship wrecks if silver need to be cleaned .They are encrusted and need to be cleaned. However salt water or sea water don't have the same effect on gold coins. They for the most part look as they did the day the ship sank. Unless encrusted in coral.

 

I know the silver coins have an appearance they have been held under a torch and the surface has been liquefied, without any change of color.

 

Description is a bit odd, shipwreck effect = a coin from a shipwreck with saltwater damage . if silver coins in saltwater are near an iron object like a cannon they can vanish completly. Others are as good as new with only minimal damage.
here's one of my shipwreck coins, its a bit corroded with a frosty porous surface ,lost about a gram in weight , 26 versus 27 gram.

 

Cool. That's why I love this site: no telling what one will learn through a simple question!

 

True enough and to the best of my knowledge "shipwreck effect" was "coined' at NGC/NCS to label the salvaged to coins for the reason above. In the 1970's it was called "sea-water damage."

In the same way, "environmental damage" became a TPGS word for corroded coins too. Sea water, salt water, environmental, is all a form of corrosion. The effects of corrosion on a coin can occur in degrees. Even "flyspecks" (a term used for tiny dark surface damage on nickels) ar a lesser form of corrosion.

 

Avoid so-called "shipwreck effect" coins. They are corroded from their time in seawater, and I find them highly unattractive. Usually they have been conserved to stabilize them and remove the corrosive process, but that leaves them white, shiny, and full of pockmarks (from the irreversible corrosion). "Shipwreck effect" ranks right below "Early Release" in terms of marketing ploys. If you like shipwreck coins, then it could be interesting I guess - but I don't.

 

Here's one of my shipwreck coin

 

Hm... Not the biggest fan but I can see the appeal

 

Atocha wreck 8 Reale cob

 

Johanna wreck South Africa beach wreck

 

After looking at several more closely, I think the Santinidollar Collection (world renowned, of course) will have to do without.