Article no longer exists, but it's a followup to the above....
Four Louisiana residents had a lucky find last year when they found and retrieved a stash of rare gold and silver coins from the wreckage of the SS New York. The steamship lies in sixty foot of water in the Gulf of Mexico after sinking during a storm in 1846. David Bowers, of Stack's Rare Coins, New York, said “Some of these are in uncirculated or mint condition,” predicting the best could bring $50,000 to $100,000 apiece at auction...
Some of the rare coins were minted at two mainly forgotten U.S. Mints in the South and these are of particular interest to coin collectors. Produced before the States printed paper money, these coins, with the value of $2.50 and $5, were known as quarter eagles and half eagles, and were struck in New Orleans; Charlotte, N.C.; and Dahlonega, Ga. The treasure also includes eagles with a a value of $10 at the time. “Some of these are in uncirculated or mint condition,” Bowers said, predicting the best could bring $50,000 to $100,000 apiece at auction.
The four divers, Craig DeRouen, along with fellow New Iberia residents Avery Munson and Gary and Renee Hebert,were looking for shipwrecks when they discovered the treasure trove around 1990. Bringing the coins up a handful at a time from the mud, until last year when they launched a full scale salvage operation after obtaining title to the wreck from a federal court, which gives them full ownership of the coins. “What we've found is varied, a little of everything,” said Craig DeRouen, who is on a leave from his job as a mechanical engineer in the oil industry. “There are different denominations from different years, silver and gold.”
finders -keepers ![:-\](https://www.treasurenet.com/smilies/undecided.gif "Undecided :-\")
