The E-Sylum:  Volume 7, Number 5, February 1, 2004, Article 19

S.S. REPUBLIC SALVAGE UPDATE

  Dick Gaetano forwarded the following press release
  from Odyssey Marine Exploration with a project update
  on their SS Republic reclamation effort.

  "Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc., a leader in the field
  of deep ocean shipwreck exploration, continues to
  excavate the SS Republic, a ship that sank in 1865 with
  a large cargo of coins. To date, more than 17,000 coins,
  with a total face value of $54,500 (approximately 14,230
  silver and 2,950 gold coins) and over 750 other artifacts
  have been recovered. The recovered coins represent
  approximately 14% of the "$400,000 in specie" (face
  value) historical records indicate was on board the Republic
  when she sank.

  National Geographic Television and Film has been following
  the expedition since the beginning. Principal photography was
  completed last week for the program's planned television
  broadcasts on Dateline NBC and "National Geographic
  Ultimate Explorer" on MSNBC.  The airdate will be
  announced when it is confirmed.

  "We're looking forward to sharing the Republic story with
  television audiences worldwide via the National Geographic
  cameras," stated Greg Stemm, Odyssey co-founder. "Our
  focus now is the recovery of the coins. When that is
  completed, we will continue the archaeological excavation
  of other areas of the shipwreck.

  Once operations were recommenced in January, the new
  systems for picking up and managing coins proved very
  successful. Between January 13 and January 26, more
  than 13,000 coins were recovered.

  The SS Republic was a side wheel steamer that sank in 1865
  while en route from New York to New Orleans after battling
  a hurricane for two days. Odyssey discovered the shipwreck
  1,700 feet below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean
  approximately 100 miles off the Georgia coast. The
  archaeological excavation of the shipwreck began in November
  of 2003 and is continuing.

  Among the coins already retrieved are numerous gold eagles,
  gold double eagles, silver half dollars and even some quarters,
  nearly all dating between the 1840's and 1865. Unlike other
  recently salvaged shipwrecks, a wide variety of dates and
  mints have been noted in this find. Based on the pieces
  recovered thus far that have been professionally conserved by
  Numismatic Conservation Services (NCS) and graded and
  encapsulated by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC),
  this collection may already include several finest-known
  examples of United States gold and silver coins from the
  period. While excavation has already uncovered thousands
  of coins, there is insufficient information at this point to predict
  the total value of the shipwreck and its cargo."

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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