If the coins were from 1901 (and that was only one sample date) they were probably pretty well circulated when they were gathered before shipping. Non-excellent condition silver coins rarely fetch more than their melt value anyway and they don’t fare very well under salt water. (Unlike gold coins which don’t care) Because the great majority of silver coins will have some copper in them in order to toughen them up, that copper will green up and the coin(s) really can’t be made into much of anything without abrasively cleaning them, and then they are glud. So there really isn’t a good road to achieving any numismatic value. They are unfortunately just junk silver and pretty junky silver at that. They are only 50% silver, unlike US silver coins @ 90% or Cana coins which are 80% or in some cases 92.5%. I am sure a handful of coins might have been saved.
***They are unfortunately just junk silver and pretty junky silver at that.***
Yet, some enterprising person will buy the junk silver at junk prices then resell them through periodicals and magazines as “GENUINE SILVER HORDE FORM THE OCEAN FLOOR!”
and make a killing in the amateur coin market for people who don’t know squat about the real value of the coins.