Billions worth of Gold found in Shipwreck

New technology has shown billions of dollars worth of gold perfectly preserved on the floor of the Caribbean Sea. The legendary San Jose galleon shipwreck was first discovered in 2015, more than 300 years since sinking in 1708. Some experts believe there to be at least 200 tonnes of gold, silver and emeralds. The ship was sailing from modern Colombia to Panama with 14 merchant vessels and three Spanish Warships as a chaperone when they encountered a British squadron. Only 11 of the 600-strong crew survived the deadly battle. The ship was one of the jewels of the Spanish Navy, with historians long knowing of the riches held in its hull. The treasure belonged to King Philip V of Spain.

The shipwreck is located almost a kilometre down, and new images and videos taken this month show gold coins and ingots fully intact along with rusted cannons. The Colombian President is seeking to recover some of the valuables to have a “sustainable financing mechanism for future extractions”. In this sense the Colombian government plans to preserve the shipwreck and in that way “protect the treasure, that patrimony of the San Jose galleon”. There is likely to be some controversy about who will have the benefit of recovering the long-lost gold. 

One reason why gold is a store of value is that it doesn’t corrode or rust when submerged. The gold in the San Jose galleon could stay there for another millennia and it will still have the same mass and properties that it was originally minted with.

It’s no accident that human civilisations from wildly different eras and geographical locales have independently landed on gold and silver as stores of value. Paper money is only as good as the governments which back them, shells can be easily broken, livestock can reproduce but can fall ill and all other metals are susceptible to extreme elements.

In contrast, the two precious metals have very high melt points, wouldn’t lose any of their mass in a fire and they will be preserved indefinitely when buried in the ground. On every measure of longevity and reliability, Gold absolutely dominates every other element of the periodic table.

Try as people might to destroy gold, whatever has been mined is still up here on the surface of the planet in a house, a vault, around someone’s neck, buried in the ground with an accompanying treasure map or at the bottom of the ocean. That gold has been here for thousands of years, and it will all still be here thousands of years after we mere mortals are gone. 

As a reminder, our friends at The Gold & Silver Standard recently launched the Gold & Silver Pirates NFTs on OpenSea, fully backed by real physical gold and silver. Check them out here or call us today to secure some of the precious booty.