30,000 Pounds of Gold Lost at Sea –
The Greatest Economic Disaster in U.S. Maritime History!

OUR STORY BEGINS IN 1857 – As the California gold rush petered out, over speculation (and embezzlement) lead to the failure of some Eastern companies and financial institutions. Panic spread and several New York banks banded together to arrange a large shipment of California gold from the San Francisco Mint in order to increase their reserves. The gold sailed south, arriving in Panama where it crossed the isthmus by rail (this was years before the Panama Canal). It was then loaded onto the SS Central America which departed on September 3^rd from Colón Panama.Then, 160 miles off the South Carolina coast, the ship ran into a category 2 hurricane. On Septermber 12, 1857, the ship sank in over 7,000 feet of water, taking with it 425 of the 578 people on board and its cargo – an estimated 30,000 pounds of gold valued at $8 million, ($550 million in today’s money) – estimates vary. It was dubbed the greatest economic disaster in U.S. maritime history and “The 19^th Century’s Titanic”.

GLOBAL FININCIAL PANIC – As word spread, it compounded the financial hysteria. A global bank panic took hold. European banks tried to liquidate American assets. Others followed their lead. Financial concern spread around the world as banks could no longer withdraw their investments held in the U.S. and Great Brittan. Unemployment and poverty swelled. The Panic of 1857 is considered by some to be the first real global economic crisis. Some historians see it as source for the tensions that contributed to the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861.

DISCOVERY – After years of research, and backed with $12.7 million from 161 investors, deep-sea explorer Tommy Thompson developed new technology to locate and recover the treasure. On September 11, 1988 the wreck of the SS Central America was finally located nearly 1.5 miles below the ocean surface. From 1988 to 1991, Thompson recovered thousands of gold bars, coins and other artifacts worth tens of millions. To date, two tons of gold have been recovered!

SEND IN THE LAWYERS – Hearing of the discovery, 35 insurance companies that had paid out damage claims in 1857 put a claim on the gold and filed a suit. That was not settled until 1996 with 92% being awarded to the discovery team and 8% to the insurance companies.

In 2005, Thompson, who had sold 52 million of the gold bars and coins, was sued by several of the investors and crew members who had not been paid. Thompson went into hiding in 2012 and was not captured for three years. A plea deal was reached, but Thompson was jailed for failing to comply with the terms of that deal – he refused to tell the court where he had stashed hundreds of gold coins. At age 70 he is still in jail.

A receiver has been designated to take over Thompson’s companies and, if possible, salvage more gold from the wreck, to recover money for Thompson’s various creditors.

THE EXHIBITION – The items on display in the upcoming Hardrock Summit were kept in storage in three different states: Maryland, Massachusetts, and Ohio, until a court-approved settlement was reached ending a decades-long ownership dispute.

The Hardrock Summit is one of only a few locations where these items can be seen before they go to auction this fall, where they will be disbursed to many (probably private) collectors. Auction website – https://www.holabirdamericana.com/ssca-collection

Read More:

USA Today: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/07/29/ss-central-america-shipwreck-artifacts-treasure/10153502002/ 

LoveMoney: https://www.lovemoney.com/gallerylist/71432/the-ss-central-america-shipwreck-and-the-hunt-for-its-treasure

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Central_America

The 1857 Financial Panic: https://www.dailyadvance.com/features/local/gold-laden-ships-sinking-off-nc-coast-sparked-economic-crisis/article_d27ffb6c-09cf-5f6a-908f-e1c7abd85dc8.html

https://glintpay.com/blog/ss-central-america-lost-gold-ship-triggered-global-crisis/