New reference details gold, silver recovered in 2014 from SS Central America

By Paul Gilkes , Coin World

Published: Oct 12, 2019, 8 AM

The 2014 salvage operations from the wreck site of the SS Central America yielded U.S. and world gold coins, gold assay ingots, gold nuggets and gold dust, silver coins and other artifacts.

Coinm images courtesy of PCGS: background image courtesy of California Gold Marketing Group.

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The illustrated 1857-S Indian Head gold $3 coin was graded Mint State 67 by PCGS and is the highest of nine examples recovered from the shipwreck.

Images courtesy of Professional Coin Grading Service

The reference includes a detailed list of the items recovered in 2014 from the SS Central America and incorporates mini biographies of each crew member and passenger.

Image courtesy of California Gold Marketing Group.

Prolific numismatic researcher and author Q. David Bowers penned the recently released reference in the SS Central America recovery operations from 2014.

Image courtesy of California Gold Marketing Group.

Bob Evans, left, and Dwight N.. Manley, at PCGS headquarters with a bulk of coins and ingots after curation.

Image courtesy of California Gold Marketing Group.

The door of the purser’s safe fell off, revealing its contents, before it was brought to the ocean’s surface by a remotely operated submersible vehicle.

Image courtesy of the California Gold Marketing Group.

Gold dust and other treasure from the SS Central America was recovered in leather pokes.

Image by Coin World Senior Editor Paul Gilkes.

Privately struck gold coins included this 1849 Moffat & Co. $10 gold coin graded PCGS Extremely Fine 40.

Images courtesy of PCGS.

Gold assay ingots on shown on the ocean floor at the stern of the SS “Central America” wreckage before retrieval.

Image courtesy of California Gold Marketing Group.

Coins are strewn across the shifting sands of the Atlantic Ocean around the SS “Central America’s” final resting place.

Image courtesy of California Gold Marketing Group.

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The recovery of California fractional gold pieces was abundant, with this 1856 25-cent piece the finest of 17 coins of this type retrieved, and the finest at PCGS MS-68

Images courtesy of PCGS.

Ingot from Sacramento, California assayer Harris, Marchand & Co. exhibits the lowest fineness among the 2014 recovery from the assayer.

Image courtesy of PCGS.

San Francisco assayer Henry Hentsch gold assay ingot with the highest fineness among Hentsch ingots from 2014, exceeding the federal standard of .900 fine.

Image courtesy of PCGS.

Among the silver coins recovered was this 1854-O Seated Liberty, Huge O quarter dollar, one of two examples found.

Images courtesy of PCGS.

An extensive history behind the 2014 recovery of gold and silver coins, gold ingots and other artifacts from the 1857 shipwreck of the SS Central America is the focus of a recently released reference book.

America’s Greatest Treasure Ship: the S.S. Central America – the Second Treasure-Finding Journey, is written by noted numismatic researcher and author Q. David Bowers with Dwight N. Manley, and contains a foreword by Bob Evans.

“I wanted to have a book that was easy to reference, almost like a Photograde of the best of each item found,” Manley said.

“We de-emphasized the people that pulled it up and focused more in the rich history and amazing new numismatic discoveries. The creme de la creme set will be a forever icon in coins,” Manley said.

Manley is the managing partner for California Gold Marketing Group, and secured the rights not only to market the treasure recovered during the initial salvage operations in the late 1980s, but retaining those rights for the 2014 recovery and any subsequent salvage efforts.

Evans served as the chief scientist and historian for the SS Central America Project and curated the treasure from all of the recovery efforts.

The 224-page, hard-cover book is profusely illustrated with more than 500 illustrations.

The reference incorporates a complete accounting of each coin and ingot recovered totaling more and 15,000 U.S. and world gold and silver coins and 45 assayers ingots.

The coins are listed by date, Mint mark and type, the number of each recovered and illustrated with the finest recovered example of each.

In addition to the federal coins from the U.S. Mint, large numbers of privately produced gold coins, including California fractional gold, were recovered.

All of the coins were graded and encapsulated by Professional Coin Grading Service after Evans curated each piece to remove encrustation without disturbing the surface metal.

The book contains a passenger and crew manifest with mini biographies on each individual aboard the SS Central America when it sank off the North Carolina coast on Sept. 12, 1857, during a hurricane.

The book also includes excerpts and multiple photographs from Coin World’s February 2018 visit to PCGS headquarters in California to document Evans’ curating process.

The SS Central America was a 280-foot-long side-wheel steamship carrying tons of California gold when it sank off the coast of North Carolina in a September 1857 hurricane during a voyage from Aspinwall (now Colón), Panama, to New York City. There were 578 passengers and crew on board, but only 153 survived.

The loss of the gold cargo more than 7,000 feet below surface of the Atlantic Ocean contributed to the economically devastating financial panic of 1857 in the United States that had begun in New York City in August.

The just-released reference is intended to be a companion to Bowers’ 2002 book, A California Gold Rush History Featuring Treasure from the S.S. Central America.

America’s Greatest Treasure Ship: the S.S. Central America – the Second Treasure-Finding Journey is available for $49.95 (plus taxes and shipping) from: Blanchard & Company (www.BlanchardGold.com); Finest Known (www.FinestKnown.com); Goldberg Coins & Collectibles (www.GoldbergCoins.com); and Universal Coin & Bullion (www.UniversalCoin.com).

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