US treasure hunters find huge collection of silver, gold coins

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2007

MIAMI (AFP) — US deep-sea treasure hunters said on Friday they have found 17 tonnes of silver coins, the largest collection ever retrieved from a shipwreck.

Odyssey Marine Exploration said the coins and other artifacts were found on a "colonial" period shipwreck at an undisclosed Atlantic Ocean location.

The artifacts include over 500,000 silver coins, hundreds of gold coins, as well as worked gold, the Tampa, Florida-based company said.

"It is believed that this recovery constitutes the largest collection of coins ever excavated from a historical shipwreck site," the company said in a statement.

"The remarkable condition of most of the first 6,000 silver coins conserved has been a pleasant surprise, and the gold coins are almost all dazzling mint...