Thursday, July 30, 2015

One Man's Treasure

Yesterday, a bit of debris was retrieved from the ocean near the east coast of Africa that might lead investigators to understand what happened to the Flight MH370, the Malaysian airliner that was lost last year somewhere in the Indian ocean. It's a long shot. The piece of "wing" is only 6 ft long. 

The mysteries that the sea sometimes gives up are always fascinating. Recently, professional treasure hunters discovered over $1 million dollars worth of coins and jewels in a shipwreck from the 18th Century. The Spanish ship, called the Capitana, was the flagship of the Spanish fleet that sank in a hurricane in July of 1715, going through Florida to Havana carrying loads of fortune! Its captain was Don Juan Esteban de Ubilla.

The treasure found includes 51 gold coins, 40 ft. of ornate gold chain and a Tricentennial Royal, an extremely rare Spanish coin valued at about $500,000 by today's standard, which was minted to honor King Felipe V of Spain. The ship was carrying more than 3.5 million pesos in treasure, including the queen’s jewels, when it sank A lot more impressive than a 6' section of a wing (maybe), but as they say, "one man's junk is another man's treasure". If the wing debris leads to the area where the plane crashed, a lot of folks will have the treasured closure they hope for.

The Capitana haul represents part of the 300th anniversary of the ship wreck. The coins are now on display at the Naval Museum in Cádiz.

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