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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Fugio1, post: 5247517, member: 89970&quot;]Indeed, this was perhaps the most significant treasure find in US history - many million dollars worth of gold.&nbsp; This story is fascinating for both the Technical genius of the recovery and the vast wealth that was retrieved.&nbsp;&nbsp; The USS Central America was a passenger ship traveling to New York from Panama in 1857, carrying 600 passengers, most of whom were families that made it rich in the California gold rush.&nbsp; Beyond the passenger wealth, the ship was transporting 21 tons of California gold. (!!!).&nbsp;&nbsp; The ship sank in a hurricane and was finally found in the late 1980&#039;s by Tommy Thompson and his crew at a depth of almost two miles.&nbsp;&nbsp; The recovery story is amazing.&nbsp; At that time there was no technology to harvest large amounts of gold from a depth anywhere close to this deep in the ocean.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The devices used for recovery were designed and fabricated by Thompson and his fellow engineers.&nbsp; I was fascinated by the description of one of the devices which encapsulates stacks of coins in silicone while still on the bottom in order to preserve their condition and prevent them from scratching as they were being pulled to the surface.&nbsp; This was one of the largest finds of California territorial gold in history.</p><p><br /></p><p>Several of the coins and large ingots from this find have been offered recently for sale.&nbsp; I believe I recall Stacks offering one of the gold ingots for several hundred thousand dollars.</p><p><br /></p><p>An account of the venture can be found in the book &quot;Ship of Gold&quot; by Gary Kinder (1998).&nbsp; This is one of the best books I have read this year and I highly recommend it.&nbsp; Thompson is a hero in this book so I was disappointed to hear about his apparent dishonesty with some of the treasure.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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