CBS NEWS INVERVIEWS CURATOR BOB EVANS

It's been called the greatest lost treasure in U.S. history. More than $50 million worth of gold sank to the bottom of the ocean when the SS Central America sank in a storm in 1857. What unfolded afterward is a tale of tragedy, deception and ultimately discovery. Now the treasure will go on display at the Long Beach Expo Thursday, Feb. 22, through Saturday, Feb. 24.

Before that could happen, slowly and carefully, more than a century of sediment was removed from the treasure: some 3,100 gold coins and more than 10,000 silver coins, all recovered in 2014 from what's known as the "Ship of Gold."

"This is a whole new season of discovery for me," said Bob Evans, chief scientist and curator of the treasure. "There's something new and wonderful comes out every day. They have stories to tell."

Evans began hunting for the sunken treasure more than 30 years ago. He was aboard the expedition lead by Capt. Tommy Thompson in the late 1980s when they first spotted what they called the "Garden of Gold" more than a mile below the surface.

"Gold bars and coins ... lightly covered with sediment. That's kind of what's fascinating about it in some ways. You've got this coral that is like growing right out of a block of gold," Evans said.

Using a robotic vehicle they'd built in a garage, they were able to scoop up some $50 million in gold.

To read the complete article, see:
Sunken treasure from Gold Rush-era shipwreck to go on display (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sunken-treasure-ship-of-gold-ss-central-america/)

Evans, a geologist by education and training, was involved with the location and initial salvage of the shipwreck site off the coast of the Carolinas and every salvage expedition since 1983 as chief scientist and historian. Evans has documented the retrieval of every coin and artifact from the site of the wreck of the Central America, which sank Sept. 12, 1857, during a hurricane.

Coin World had the privilege of meeting Feb. 13 with Evans at Collectors Universe in Santa Ana., California, in the inner sanctum of a Professional Coin Grading Service facility where he was entering his 34th straight 10- to 12-hour work day curating the treasure on behalf of its owner and marketer, the California Gold Marketing Group.

To read the complete article, see:
SS Central America treasure undergoing curation before grading (https://www.coinworld.com/news/us-coins/2018/02/ss-central-america-treasure-under-curation.all.html)

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