Treasure of 20 tons of gold buried with 426 people in the US sea

In 1988, treasure hunter Tommy Thompson and his colleagues found the Golden Ship - the famous American SS Central America ship sank to the seabed 130 years earlier.

During his expedition, Thompson recovered thousands of gold bars, coins and valuable antiques. Most of these precious metals were then sold for about $ 50 million (more than VND 1.1 trillion).

However, this is only part of the huge treasure on the SS Central America - the legendary gold-carrying ship in 1857.

Some gold was salvaged from the SS Central America ship.

20 tons of gold sink into the sea

SS Central America, an 85m-long ship, operates in Central America and the east coast of the United States in the 1850s.

On September 3, 1857, 476 passengers and 102 sailors on board left Colon port in Panama to New York City.

However, on September 10, the ship encountered a terrible storm, was damaged and sank on September 12 off the tip of Hatteras, North Carolina. A total of 426 people were killed, according to the Telegraph.

SS Central America sank on September 12 off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina in the United States.

Telegraph said SS Central America was carrying about 20 tons of gold at that time. It is said to be the largest undersea treasure in American history.

The entire number of ' hidden jewels' hidden in the ship was identified by The Richest as being worth between 100-150 million USD (2.3 -3.4 trillion).

The ship sinking shocked the public and shook the economy. It has contributed to the economic crisis 'Panic of 1857' in the US when New York banks were waiting for gold to be carried in vain.

Search for treasure

Every attempt to find massive gold failed until 1988, when the Columbus-America Group (CAG) expedition team, led by Tommy Thompson, located the undersea wreck 2.400m.

Because the water was too deep, a remote control vehicle (ROV) was set down to search, according to the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) page. While the ROV was an unpopular technology at that time, it helped gather enough evidence to verify it was the SS Central America.

Tommy Thompson on the train to find SS Central Ameria's treasure.

CAG then salvaged three tons of gold bars and coins worth about $ 50 million. Among these treasures, there is a gold ingot weighing up to 28 kg and hundreds of ancient coins. Many ancient coins were sold for USD 10,000 (VND 227 million) each, according to NUMA.

Thompson once described the moment when he first saw the treasure in a book: "None of us think that this is extraordinary. Part of America's legacy, this is history hidden in the form of national treasure, and we found it.

However, Thompson's joy was not extended. 39 insurance companies started suing Thompson, claiming that they were covered by insurance should belong to them, according to USA Today.

Salvation is suspended during legal dispute resolution.

CAG then salvaged three tons of gold ingots and coins from the wreck.

According to NUMA, Thompson never divided the money by selling gold coins to the search team and investors. He said the money was paid for legal activities and bank loans.

After that, investors sued Thompson. The explorer fled when there was an arrest warrant. During this time, the court appointed the search and exploitation of the treasure for the new organization - Odyssey Marine Exploration.

In January 2015, Thompson was arrested on charges of fraudulent investors. At that time, the 62-year-old man was discovered in a hotel in Florida.

By June 2017, he was still detained in an American prison because he had not been 'cracked' about where the gold had been mined, according to the AP.

Thompson took pictures with the gold he got from the SS Central America.

Endless treasure

After taking over the operation of SS Central America, the Odyssey recovered more than 15,500 gold and silver coins and 45 gold bars. They also found gold jewelry and many antiquities from the 19th century such as glass containers, cigarettes .

The wreck is too deep for people to dive, but this will not prevent salvage. The Odyssey also uses an 8-ton remote control vehicle called Zeus to sweep the ocean floor.

Odysse's chief executive, Greg Stemm, told FoxNews: "The SS Central America is one of the greatest shipwreck stories of all time."

Many gold are still lying in the ocean, waiting to be salvaged.

A coin was picked up from the SS Central America ship.