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Chinese Gold Ingots Stolen From 18th Century Shipwreck Have Been Returned

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Chinese Gold Ingots Stolen From 18th Century Shipwreck Have Been Returned:

The United States government has just returned a collection of historically significant artifacts stolen by fortune hunters to the French government, to whom the artifacts rightfully belong according to international law. Included in this valuable bounty were five gold ingots inscribed with Chinese characters, which were manufactured and exchanged in China in the 18th century. These ingots were once used as a form of currency and had been in the possession of French East Indian Trading Company representatives when the ship they were traveling on sunk off the coast of France on December 3, 1746.

After being lost for more than two centuries, the gold ingots were “illegally” recovered from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean by a team of divers who discovered the remains of the shipwreck in 1974. They were seized by agents from the Homeland Security Investigations arm of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency in 2018, after they were put up for sale online by a California auction house.

On March 2, an official from Homeland Security Investigations returned the ingots and the other precious historical artifacts to the French ambassador of the United States at his residence in Washington, D. C.

**The Gold Ingots and the Treasure of the Prince de Conty:

On December 3, 1746, the trading ship Prince de Conty was due to arrive at the port city of L’Orient, France, carrying a shipload of goods acquired from Nanjing, China. The ship was carrying many highly coveted items, including tea, Qing Dynasty porcelain, and approximately 100 gold ingots bearing Chinese inscriptions . These gold ingots would be worth 25,000 dollars (23,000 euros) each on today’s gold market, putting the total value of the shipment above the 2.5-million-dollar mark (2.3 million euros).

https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/gold-ingots-0016501

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US investigation leads to return of gold ingots, other historical artifacts to France:​



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The Prince de Conty was a 600-ton ship, built in L'Orient in 1743, when it sank off the coast of France it was carrying the Chinese gold ingots and much more.
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The Prince de Conty was a 600-ton ship, built in L'Orient in 1743, when it sank off the coast of France it was carrying the Chinese gold ingots and much more.
View attachment 2014454
I wonder if the French gov. or potential insurers ever stopped looking and abandoned it?????? I bet they did LONG AGO. Is any lost treasure fair game?
 
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The Prince de Conty was a 600-ton ship, built in L'Orient in 1743, when it sank off the coast of France it was carrying the Chinese gold ingots and much more.
View attachment 2014454


The sinking of the Prince de Conty off the southeast coast of Belle-Île on December 3, 1746, led to the drowning of 160 men, with 42 managing to reach the shore. Having reached the coast of Brittany in the evening, tacked around, waiting for daylight and the opportunity to reach the shelter of Groix and then the port of Lorient. Sailing very close to the coast to avoid English patrols, it struck a reef at four o'clock in the morning and sank immediately. The 42 men on watch on deck managed to reach the shore; The others were drowned in sleep, and the officers, weighed down by a gold belt—part of the cargo brought back from China—were dragged to the bottom. Indeed, a survivor testified: “As for the gold […] as a precaution and because of the risks of war, the late Mr. de Boisanger [captain] had it put on his belt, so that in case of capture, the officers, whom custom dictates should not be searched, could have saved it nearby . ”

Anyone search for those gold belts? 🙂
 

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