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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National Public Radio (NPR) had a segment Monday, May 19, discussing the legal battle between Spain and Odyssey Marine Exploration for the 17-tons of Colonial-era coins recovered from the ocean floor.
That legal dispute started back in May of 2007 when Odyssey discovered a 17th-century shipwreck, they code-named the “Black Swan”.
Spain filed legal claims contending 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.
In the 4 minute NPR radio segment, Jim Goold, Spain’s attorney, contends that 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.
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U.S. Judge Mark Pizzo ruled Wednesday that the location of the shipwreck site where 17-tons of Colonial-era gold and silver coins were hauled up from the ocean floor must be kept a secret.
The legal dispute started back in May of 2007 when Odyssey Marine Exploration discovered a 17th-century shipwreck, they code-named the “Black Swan”. Spain filed legal claims contending the treasure is a part of their country’s cultural heritage and should be returned. Odyssey said the treasure was found in international waters and was legally retrieved.
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A federal judge moved a legal battle forward by ruling Thursday on several counts between Spain and Odyssey Marine Exploration, a deep-sea treasure-hunting firm based in Tampa, Florida. The legal counts revolved around sites and a shipwreck that yielded a potential $500 million in Colonial-era gold and silver coins.
Odyssey discovered a 17-ton bounty of treasure in the Atlantic Ocean last May and since, has found itself in a contested legal battle with Spain over its ownership.
Odyssey says the 17th-century shipwreck, they code-named the “Black Swan”, was found in international waters and the treasure was legally retrieved. Spain contends the treasure is a part of their country’s cultural heritage and should be returned.
In a written ruling Thursday, U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday covered six counts. Read the rest of this entry »
Deep seas, adventure, mystery, suspense and a battle over who owns a sunken treasure … they are the trappings of an action-adventure movie that could make hundreds of millions.
But it’s not a movie. The money involved is no exaggeration and these are no mere plots titles. Everything is real. Florida based exploration, shipwreck and recovery company Odyssey Marine and the Spanish government have been waging a battle within the middle of a courtroom.
At stake are the rights to 17 tons of silver and gold coins - an enormous and extremely valuable coin hoard Odyssey discovered within the ‘Black Swan’, the code name they gave to the colonial-era shipwreck lying on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.
On Thursday, Judge Mark Pizzo of U.S. District Court in Tampa ruled that Odyssey Marine must provide the location of the Black Swan and provide Spain an opportunity to inspect the treasure. In return, all information must remain confidential to protect Odyssey’s interests.
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Discover a mysterious shipwreck, give it a cool code name, secretly haul from it a spectacular treasure of coins possibly worth $500 million, and then announce it to all the world.
What do you get? In this day and age, a free trip to court and mounting legal bills!
The Spanish government is battling Odyssey Marine Exploration, a U.S. treasure hunting company, over their discovery of a shipwreck somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean.
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