A fortune in sunken treasure from a 19th-century shipwreck may include twice the amount of gold previously estimated, a member of an Ohio research team said.
Barry Schatz, a member of the Columbus-America Discover Group, revealed Wednesday that researchers now believe the SS Central America, at the center of an intense legal struggle, could have been carrying up to six tons of gold. Previous estimates had put the load aboard the ship at three tons.The value of the gold has been estimated as high as $1 billion. No one has assessed what the treasure haul would be worth if it is six tons, and a new estimate would have to take into account the condition of any gold found.
Schatz said the new estimate is based on historical assessments that indicate a large amount of gold may have been carried by individual prospectors who never registered their finds.
The Central America was heading to New York carrying gold from California when it went down in a hurricane in 1857, about 160 miles east of South Carolina.
Columbus-America last summer brought up more than a ton of gold from the Central America last year. The group, which is still salvaging the ship, is in the middle an maritime law proceeding to determine who will get the gold.
U.S. District Judge Richard B. Kellam listened to closing arguments Wednesday from lawyers for Columbus-America, U.S. and British insurance companies and private investors. A ruling on who will receive the richest treasure find in modern U.S. history is not expected until later this summer.
Richard Robol, a lawyer for Columbus-America, said competing claims to the gold were based on "smoke and mirrors. . . . They sat on the sidelines, they let Columbus-America do all the work, and then they came in and made the claims."
To get all or a share of the treasure, the insurers must prove they never abandoned the shipwreck, fully insured the gold and paid out claims.
Guilford Ware, a lawyer for the insurance companies, argued that his clients never dropped their claims, noting that the technology to recover gold from the Central America did not exist until this past decade. "Who would ever completely abandon three tons of gold?" he asked.
Robol said the 1857 value of the gold was estimated at $1.2 million to $2 million. But much of the treasure is in mint condition, causing its value to soar well above its worth in weight.