Free Republic

...The interest in coins comes as sophisticated investors are increasingly looking for assets outside of the U.S. stock market, which many market observers expect to post only modest gains during the coming year. In buying rare coins, individuals not only acquire a collectible asset, but they are also getting exposure to precious metals. The prices of gold and silver, from which many popular U.S. coins are made, are both rising smartly. The Internet and coin-grading services are playing a part in drawing a new breed of coin investors. The Internet allows collectors to buy and sell rare coins at locations...

Court Grants Ownership of Rich Shipwreck to Tampa, Fla., Company Mar 25, 2004 By Mitch Stacy/ Associated Press Writer/ TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - A federal judge has given full ownership of a Civil War-era shipwreck to Florida explorers who say the site may yield one of the richest sunken cargoes in history. Odyssey Marine Exploration of Tampa discovered the wreck of the SS Republic last summer and has already plucked 52,000 gold and silver coins from the site in the Atlantic about 100 miles southeast of Savannah, Ga. Early estimates put the collectors' value of the coins at $120 million...

<p>TAMPA -- Explorers believe they have found the sunken remains of an 1860s steamer that could yield the richest cargo ever recovered from a shipwreck: thousands of gold coins worth as much as $180 million.</p> <p>The SS Republic was carrying 59 passengers and 20,000 $20 gold coins from New York to New Orleans when it sank in a hurricane off Savannah, Ga., on Oct. 25, 1865, according to newspaper accounts and other historical records.</p>

For nearly 138 years, The Republic has lain undetected in the icy depths of the Atlantic, defying treasure seekers and marine archaeologists alike.But the mystery surrounding the location of the 19th-century steamer, which sank without a trace while carrying 200,000 gold coins, has finally been solved.A team of private explorers believes it may have struck gold in the deep waters off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, where it located the remains of The Republic.If the gold cargo is intact in the wreckage, it will become the most valuable treasure find in history, as the estimated value of the coins will...

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Explorers believe they have found the sunken remains of an 1860s steamer that could yield the richest cargo ever recovered from a shipwreck: thousands of gold coins worth as much as $180 million. The S.S. Republic was carrying 59 passengers and 20,000 $20 gold coins from New York to New Orleans when it sank in a hurricane off Savannah, Ga., on Oct. 25, 1865, according to newspaper accounts and other historical records. All the passengers boarded life boats and got off alive, but the coins - intended to help pay for reconstruction of the South after...