Posted on 12/17/2016 4:32:20 PM PST by dynachrome
Tommy G. Thompson was once one of the greatest treasure hunters of his time: A dark-bearded diver who hauled a trove of gold from the Atlantic Ocean in 1988 - dubbed the richest find in U.S. history.
Years later, accused of cheating his investors out of the fortune, Thompson led federal agents on a great manhunt - pursued from a Florida mansion to a mid-rent hotel room booked under a fake name.
Now Thompson's beard has grayed, and he lives in an Ohio jail cell, held there until he gives up the location of the gold.
But for nearly two years, despite threats and fines and the best exertions of a federal judge, no one has managed to make Thompson reveal what he did with the treasure.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Precious metals use troy ounces, 12 to a pound.
I googled it and have been reading up on it. Can’t find a troy ton.
Bit more than half a cubic yard
Easy to hide
1 m3 water = 1000 kg. Specific gravity of pure gold is 19.32. So 3 * 1000 / 19.32 = 0.155 m3.
Nominally ~$110 million. Although the coins are worth more than the current price of gold.
Long since past needing to be done.
A 20-inch cube? That can’t be right. Why just this morning I was watching Gunsmoke, and the guy tossed a chest of gold off the train and into the buckboard five feet away!
I hope he doesn’t tell them...
“I lost the gold and all my guns in an unfortunate canoe accident”
+1
“Wake me when they start jailing Politicians for squandering The Public Treasury!”
Lol
x12
Gold is measured in Troy ounces which are 12 to a pound.
Don’t ask me why.
Once you have converted the troy ounces to pounds, it is the same, 2000lb. per ton.
I know, right?
FYI -About 13 lbs. of gold would fit in a 1 lb. bag of flour
This gold find is the subject of one of the best books I’ve ever read. “Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea” by Kinder.
SS Central America went down in the Atlantic in 1850’s off So Carolina (I think) carrying first minted coins and bars of the SF Mint from the Calif Gold Rush. This was pre-Panama Canal so the ship that left SF with the gold had to unload in Panama and go by ground and mules across Panama jungles and then board the side wheel SS Central America for the trip up the Atlantic Coast to NY. Exciting book. Ends at the recovery and sailing into port in Florida(?) and then facing the many law suits from the insurance companies who had paid out claims from 1850’s. As I remember 90% of those claims were dismissed by Virginia’s Maritime Court. Later I read newspaper accounts of Thompsons’ trip sadly into drugs, alcohol in Florida. I didn’t know ‘til just now that he’d been imprisoned. Fascinating story.
I read the book in late 1990’s (printed in late 1980’s as I remember as a Book of the Month Club) so forgive me the tiny details I’m sketchy on as that was a while ago.
19.3 lbs.
Gold is in Troy ounces. 12 to a pound not 16
Sorry, did not adjust for the density of whole wheat flour. The correct answer is about 11.5 lbs.
Easier to just use metric @ $36,574.66/kg.
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