Endurance Exploration Group (OTCQB: EXPL) and project recovery partner Blue Water Ventures International (OTCPK: BWVI) are pleased to announce that Numismatic Conservation Services (NCS) and Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) have been selected to conserve, attribute and grade coins recovered from the wreck of the SS Pulaski.
The SS Pulaski sank in 1838 off the coast of North Carolina while sailing from Charleston, South Carolina, to Baltimore, Maryland. It is one of the most notable shipwrecks in the early history of the United States.
Recent recovery efforts by Endurance Exploration Group and Blue Water Ventures International have found coins from the US, Spain, Mexico and Great Britain among other artifacts. Foreign coins were legal tender in US at the time the SS Pulaski sank due to the scarcity of US Mint issues.
The SS Pulaski is particularly significant because it is one of the earliest shipwrecks from which US coins have been recovered. The coins initially recovered include well-preserved half dollars and half eagles from the 1830s as well as several earlier issues.
The coins will be professionally conserved by NCS, which was established in 2001 as the world’s first professional coin conservation service. NCS has extensive experience with shipwreck-recovered coins, having previously conserved coins recovered from several major shipwrecks.
After conservation, coins will be attributed and graded by NGC, an affiliated company. NGC was founded in 1987 to provide accurate, consistent and impartial assessments of the authenticity and grade of coins. Once graded, coins are encapsulated in NGC’s proprietary protective holder with a certification label that notes the coin’s description and grade.
The SS Pulaski coins will be encapsulated by NGC with a special certification label that features an engraving of the ship. In addition to noting the description and grade of the coins, the label will identify their SS Pulaski provenance.
NCS and NGC are housed in the same 60,000-square-foot, secure, climate-controlled facility in Sarasota, Florida. The companies also have offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Munich.
"This may be one of the most significant shipwreck finds of early US silver and gold coins," says Mark Salzberg, chairman of NCS and NGC. "We are honored to have been selected to examine, conserve and grade coins from this historic shipwreck."
"We are pleased that NCS and NGC have begun their conservation and evaluation of the recovered coins," states Micah Eldred, president of Endurance Exploration.
Keith Webb of Blue Water Ventures International adds: "With recovery efforts resuming in 2018, we hope to keep NCS and NGC very busy."
For information about NGC and its grading services, visit www.ngccoin.com.
