Sunken Treasure Worth $500 Million Found Off England

An anonymous reader writes "In a modern day (and underwater) version of Indiana Jones, the AP is reporting that Odyssey Marine Exploration has recovered an estimated $500 Million in colonial coins from a 400 year old shipwreck in the Atlantic. The exact location of the wreck is still undisclosed. Odyssey is a for-profit, publicly traded company. 'In seeking exclusive rights to that site, an Odyssey attorney told a federal judge last fall that the company likely had found the remains of a 17th-century merchant vessel that sank with valuable cargo aboard, about 40 miles off the southwestern tip of England. A judge granted those rights Wednesday. In keeping with the secretive nature of the project dubbed ''Black Swan,'' Odyssey also is not discussing details of the coins, such as their type, denomination or country of origin. Bruyer said he observed a wide variety of coins that probably were never circulated. He said the currency was in much better condition than artifacts yielded by most shipwrecks of a similar age. The coins -- mostly silver pieces -- could fetch several hundred to several thousand dollars each, with some possibly commanding much more, he said.'"

Comments

Re:As the sunken vessel lies in international wate

[tumbleweedsi]

Well we all saw in Iraq what happened to people who ignored America's version of 'International' Law.

RTFA, dumbass

[Anonymous Coward]

You're a dumbass. Territorial waters and airspace extend 12 nautical miles from the coastline. Admirality law, which is an internationally recognized set of laws, allows anyone to get any national judge to declare property abandoned in the high seas. They, being a US company, asked a US judge to do this. 40 nm off the coast is not territorial water, the brits have no territorial control over it. It could just as legally been a Pakistani company asking a Pakistani judge. You, sir, a typical, useless, slashtard.