Deep seas, adventure, mystery, suspense and a battle over who owns a sunken treasure… they are the trappings of an action-adventure blockbuster that could make hundreds of millions. But this is no movie plot. The treasure is real — possibly worth some $500 million — and a battle over its ownership wages on, but now at another level.
500 million Colonial-era gold and silver coins belonged to the sunken Spanish warship Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes and should be returned to Spain, a U.S. judge said this week.
Odyssey Marine Exploration, a deep-sea treasure-hunting firm based in Tampa, Florida, discovered the shipwrecked treasure in international waters about 100 miles west of the Straits of Gibraltar — a site Odyssey code-named "Black Swan." Soon after the March 2007 discovery, Spain laid claim to the 17-ton coin hoard, demanding its return and sparking a near two-year legal battle. A page in that battle has been turned. Read the rest of this entry »
The Odyssey discovery of the "Black Swan" 17-ton gold and and silver coin treasure, its recovery and legal battle with Spain over it will air Thursday, April 2, on the Discovery Channel’s "Treasure Quest."
The episode is likely to be the most fascinating of the season, and on Tuesday, excellent background and a preview of what to expect was provided by the TODAY show.
In May 2007, Florida-based deep-sea shipwreck exploration firm Odyssey Marine Exploration recovered the discovered treasure trove at a site the company code-named the "Black Swan." Soon after, a legal battle erupted in Federal court over the ownership of the Colonial-era coins. Read the rest of this entry »
The Republic of Peru on Tuesday entered the legal fray between Odyssey Marine Exploration and Spain over a 17-ton booty of Colonial-era silver and gold coins discovered at a shipwreck site Odyssey code-named the "Black Swan."
That legal dispute started back in May of 2007 after Odyssey — a Florida based treasure hunting, and deep-sea exploration firm — hauled up over 500,000 silver and gold coins from a 17th-century shipwreck site found on the Atlantic sea floor.
Spain contends the treasure is a part of their country’s cultural heritage and should be returned. Odyssey has said the treasure was found in international waters, and legally retrieved.
The legal battle over the treasure is now pending in U.S. District Court before Magistrate Judge Mark A. Pizzo in Tampa, Florida.
Although not proven, the coin treasure may have come from the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, a Spanish 34-gun frigate that left Peru and was close to home before it was sunk by the British fleet in 1804.
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The Association of Peruvian Consumers and Users (ASPEC) requested the Peru government to join the legal battle between Odyssey Marine Exploration and Spain over the sunken treasure trove of silver and gold coins discovered last year.
Ownership of the 17-ton treasure found by Odyssey in May of 2007 is worth several hundred million, and has been hotly contested.
With the possibility the treasure came from the Mercedes, a Spanish 34-gun frigate that left Peru and was close to home before it was sunk by the British fleet in 1804, ASPEC believes the coins were made with Peruvian metals and minted in Lima.
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Florida-based treasure hunting, deep-sea exploration firm Odyssey Marine Exploration is back in court this morning at 9:30 a.m. (ET) with Spain. The legal battle over 17-tons of silver and gold Colonial-era coins continues in U.S. Federal court before Magistrate Judge Mark A. Pizzo.
The coin treasure trove was recovered by Odyssey in May of 2007, and resulting legal disputes with Spain over ownership have resulted since.
Court fillings reveal that the conclusive identity of the sunken ship site, Odyssey code-named the “Black Swan,” could not yet be made. But they also suggest a possible linkage to Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes y las Animas, a Spanish vessel that sank in the Atlantic Ocean in 1804.
Since, Spain’s attorney Jim Goold has went as far as stating Odyssey’s recovery of the treasure was “immoral and illegal,” and provided an analogy of someone taking personal effects from the pockets of those who died in the U.S.S Arizona at Pearl Harbor — essentially grave-robbing the honored dead.
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The name of a 17th-century shipwreck bearing 17 tons of silver and gold coins discovered by Odyssey Marine Exploration may finally be known. News accounts have reported the estimated value of the treasure trove at around $500 million. Whether true or not, the potential value drew immediate attention and a resulting legal battle between Odyssey and Spain.
Magistrate Judge Mark A. Pizzo issued a ruling yesterday denying an Odyssey motion to protect the identity of the shipwreck.
Resulting court fillings revealed that the conclusive identity of the sunken ship Odyssey code-named the "Black Swan" could not yet be made, but they also suggest a possible linkage to Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes y las Animas, a Spanish vessel that sank in the Atlantic Ocean in 1804.
Read the rest of this entry »
