$130,000 in 1792 value- Maryland

[Frankn]

Here's one I pulled off the net that I never heard before. A sunken ship on the NORTH end of Assateague Island. That's state park, OK to detect on the beach, even has a campground on the beach. The ship was a slave trader called the Indies Ballad. It was a 3 masked (sloop). It sand in 1792 and 2 searches have come up empty. The loot is described as 3 full chests of beaten gold wafers. Each measured 1"x4"x1/2" the edges were smooth and rounded. Well I have to put that beach on my visit list. Frank

[Mackaydon]

Hello Frank,
I had some fun with those numbers.
$130k in 1800 would have been worth about $1.65M in 2010.
Also, $130k in 2010 would have been the same as about $10.5k in 1800.
Gold in 1792 was valued at $19.39 per oz.; or about $310 per pound.
It would take 419 pounds of gold to be valued at $130,000 in 1800.
Can anyone believe that at merchant sloop would be carrying 419 pounds of gold in 1792?
Don..........

[truckinbutch]

I could see that being a possibility . Those crusty old smugglers from the back creeks of Chesapeake Bay along the DelMarVa peninnsula carried what they had with them . If they went down , their wealth did , too .

[Frankn]

Hay Don, I ran those numbers and came up worse. 558.7# of gold . I used 12 troy oz to the #. I don't know the measurement system then. They had 3 chests that means 200# per chest. I think I would need help on the recovery. lol The big questions remains. How many slaves did they squeeze in a 3 masted sloop and how much did they pay per slave? How much did they pay the crew? I never delved into these aspects. I suspect most don't even try to justify carrying certain caches. You brought up a point well taken. Frank

[truckinbutch]

Hay Don, I ran those numbers and came up worse. 558.7# of gold . I used 12 troy oz to the #. I don't know the measurement system then. They had 3 chests that means 200# per chest. I think I would need help on the recovery. lol The big questions remains. How many slaves did they squeeze in a 3 masted sloop and how much did they pay per slave? How much did they pay the crew? I never delved into these aspects. I suspect most don't even try to justify carrying certain caches. You brought up a point well taken. Frank

Skim through Michener's CHESAPEAKE . Gives some pretty graphic details of slave smugglers
and dollars in that time period .

[fetcher]

I remember reading a story in an archaeological feed that this ship, or perhaps a different one has been discovered. You may want to google it. I have also read that a famous pirate had a fling on the eastern shore. In fact, I read that a local university received permission to perform an archaeological excavation on the house and its grounds. Not sure what ever became of it.

[47thelement]

Darn my luck!! I have whole weekend to spend in OC. Just
Me and the excal....what to do??

[bearbqd]

Theres also supposedly 8 trunks of gold and silver buried somewhere on Assateague or Chingateage from Black beard.

[Frankn]

Assateaque has completely changed. All the inlets have changed and to make matters worse, it is now a National Seasure except for the extreme north edge which is a state park. You can only detect on the state controlled portion and only from labor day to memorial day. I just spent 3 days there and came up empty. Frank

[fetcher]

This story interested me 3 years ago, but I never studied much of it. I've heard of the inlets changing, but there has to be an old map, in a historical society, that details the original topography, right? I recently heard there was a team of the coast of North Carolina that believed they found his ship, or something similar to it. Gonna look it up now.

[ivan salis]

a 3 masted schooner loaded to the gills with slaves -- once the slave cargo was sold could easily have a large sum of gold on her . 260 slaves at $500 each is $ 130,000.00 both are highly real numbers of what a 3 masted slaver could carry cargo wize and the sale price of a slave in the late 1700 /early 1800 era before the importing of slaves from africa was banned in 1803 by us law.

SLAVERS WOULD OFTEN "OVERLOAD" THE VESSEL WHEN IN AFRICA KNOWING DUE TO LACK OF FOOD / WATER AND MEDICAL CARE THEY WOULD HAVE LARGE LOSSES -- say to unload the 260 * IN THE US-- the original onload would be say 500 souls -- 50% loss "OF CARGO" during a slave cruize was quite common --however the price bought for / sold for still made it a high profietible thought sick bussiness. -- THE SHIP OWNER MIGHT NOT HAVE A DIRECT HAND IN VIEWING THE CARGO WHEN IT WAS "UNLOADED" ALL HE CARED ABOUT WAS HIS PROFIETS --SO THE CREW MIGHT PACK ON A FEW "EXTRA" SLAVES IN A ATTEMPT TO GET A LITTLE EXTRA CASH ON THE SIDE "OFF THE BOOKS" BY SELLING THESE "PERSONALLY" FOR THEIR OWN PROFIET.

[fetcher]

Here she is!!! Notice this in the article the writer says they've found gold, but is that the only gold?

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...ology-science/

[Frankn]

That is a different ship at a different place. That ship wasn't carrying any gold when it was sunk and Blackbeard was killed. Frank

[fetcher]

I brought it up because Blackbeard had a mistress near Assateague, according to a little research I did a while back. Fetcher

[Frankn]

Hay fetcher, every little bit of info helps. I never heard of the mistress before. I guess no one knows it all. I learn something new every day. I have been working on a cache for mounths with another hunter and we still don't have the location nailed down. Frank

[wwace]

That seems a ridiculous sum for that time period, also the fact that it is in gold, it's unlikely that there was that much gold in the country at that time. The whole US Budget for 1792 was 5.1 million. Also the average price for a slave in the 1790's was $215. $130k would be a hell of a lot of slaves. Also a "chest" may be just about any size. Good Luck with this one.

[Frankn]

I think that is stated in todays gold price value.
Example: I am looking for a $150,000 gold coin cache. The true value today is $12M. get my point? Frank

[wwace]

my point is that I was using your numbers, 500+lbs of gold in 1792 USA was very unlikely to exist, the first gold discovered in America was a 17 lb nugget in Carolina in 1799 sparking the Meadow Creek rush of 1803. Any gold in America at the time was likely coinage of European origin

[GrayCloud]

WWACE, Sorry but that is only partially true, as it was the first discovery by the settlers of America. The Spanish were mining gold and running slave camps in South, Central and North America 200 years before that nugget was used as a door stop.

[AGBlex]

so... much ... money