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Judge rules against adding to Thompson's prison time
- Published: Feb 24, 2025, 5 PM
SS Central America treasure salvor Thomas “Tommy” Thompson is likely to be released from federal custody in two more years. He has already served 10 years in prison for criminal contempt, refusing to disclose to authorities or his attorneys the hiding place for millions of dollars in gold pieces he has shielded from investors.
Thompson has been incarcerated since 2015, after he and his girlfriend were arrested in Florida, having hidden as fugitives for two and a half years to evade federal law enforcement. During his imprisonment, Thompson has accrued fines now amounting to more than $3.5 million, from the $1,000 per day fine imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Algenon Marbley in Columbus, Ohio.
Judge Marbley issued a ruling Jan. 31 that no amount of legal coercion would move Thompson to disclose the location of the missing gold pieces, a number of reproduction pieces minted from some of the gold bars salvaged from the SS Central America, which sank off the coast of the Carolinas during a violent hurricane on Sept. 12, 1857. The ship’s wreckage was pinpointed by salvors, who included Thompson, in the late 1980s.
Marbley noted Thompson still has two more years to serve in federal custody on a separate federal contempt charge before being eligible for release.
Hidden gold
There has been testimony that the hidden gold was stored in a trust in the nation of Belize.
Belize, a country on the northeastern coast of Central America, is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south.
The hidden gold is in the form or Proof or Uncirculated finish modern reproduction strikes of 1855 Kellogg & Co. gold $50 coins. These relic reproduction pieces were made from transfer dies, created from dies originally used to strike the 1855 coins, secured from San Francisco dealer Don Kagin, according to Professional Coin Grading Service’s CoinFacts.
These modern pieces were created on behalf of the California Gold Marketing Group in September 2001 inside a concrete block structure on The Presidio.
The Presidio is an expansive National Park Service site and former Army base, in the shadow of The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
The gold for the reproductions (and in a limited number of seven restrikes from the actual dies, according to PCGS CoinFacts) was harvested from California gold ingots recovered from the shipwreck.
The identifying faces of the bars, containing details of their weight and manufacture, were carefully removed, preserved, and framed for marketing as collectibles by the California Gold Marketing Group.
The interiors of the ingots were melted, refined and alloyed to the .887 fine standard of the original Kellogg & Co. pioneer gold $50 coins, and planchets were made.
Ron Landis from The Gallery Mint in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, supervised creating the seven restrikes and 5,000 reproduction coins — Proof and Uncirculated finish 1855 Kellogg & Co. gold $50 pieces — on the newly created planchets (according to Goldbergauctions.com).
Struck over several days on a multi-ton Mint press Landis had trucked from Arkansas, most of the pieces, each containing about 2.41 troy ounces of pure gold, were encapsulated after certification by PCGS.
A number of the relic gold reproductions were presented to Thompson as his portion of the treasure. However, Thompson has been ordered to pay restitution to investors seeking returns on the investments that helped fund the initial search and salvage operations. Thompson claims to have forgotten where his gold pieces are stored.
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Community Comments
Judge rules against adding to Thompson's prison time
- Published: Feb 24, 2025, 5 PM
SS Central America treasure salvor Thomas “Tommy” Thompson is likely to be released from federal custody in two more years. He has already served 10 years in prison for criminal contempt, refusing to disclose to authorities or his attorneys the hiding place for millions of dollars in gold pieces he has shielded from investors.
Thompson has been incarcerated since 2015, after he and his girlfriend were arrested in Florida, having hidden as fugitives for two and a half years to evade federal law enforcement. During his imprisonment, Thompson has accrued fines now amounting to more than $3.5 million, from the $1,000 per day fine imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Algenon Marbley in Columbus, Ohio.
Judge Marbley issued a ruling Jan. 31 that no amount of legal coercion would move Thompson to disclose the location of the missing gold pieces, a number of reproduction pieces minted from some of the gold bars salvaged from the SS Central America, which sank off the coast of the Carolinas during a violent hurricane on Sept. 12, 1857. The ship’s wreckage was pinpointed by salvors, who included Thompson, in the late 1980s.
Marbley noted Thompson still has two more years to serve in federal custody on a separate federal contempt charge before being eligible for release.
Hidden gold
There has been testimony that the hidden gold was stored in a trust in the nation of Belize.
Belize, a country on the northeastern coast of Central America, is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south.
The hidden gold is in the form or Proof or Uncirculated finish modern reproduction strikes of 1855 Kellogg & Co. gold $50 coins. These relic reproduction pieces were made from transfer dies, created from dies originally used to strike the 1855 coins, secured from San Francisco dealer Don Kagin, according to Professional Coin Grading Service’s CoinFacts.
These modern pieces were created on behalf of the California Gold Marketing Group in September 2001 inside a concrete block structure on The Presidio.
The Presidio is an expansive National Park Service site and former Army base, in the shadow of The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
The gold for the reproductions (and in a limited number of seven restrikes from the actual dies, according to PCGS CoinFacts) was harvested from California gold ingots recovered from the shipwreck.
The identifying faces of the bars, containing details of their weight and manufacture, were carefully removed, preserved, and framed for marketing as collectibles by the California Gold Marketing Group.
The interiors of the ingots were melted, refined and alloyed to the .887 fine standard of the original Kellogg & Co. pioneer gold $50 coins, and planchets were made.
Ron Landis from The Gallery Mint in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, supervised creating the seven restrikes and 5,000 reproduction coins — Proof and Uncirculated finish 1855 Kellogg & Co. gold $50 pieces — on the newly created planchets (according to Goldbergauctions.com).
Struck over several days on a multi-ton Mint press Landis had trucked from Arkansas, most of the pieces, each containing about 2.41 troy ounces of pure gold, were encapsulated after certification by PCGS.
A number of the relic gold reproductions were presented to Thompson as his portion of the treasure. However, Thompson has been ordered to pay restitution to investors seeking returns on the investments that helped fund the initial search and salvage operations. Thompson claims to have forgotten where his gold pieces are stored.
Connect with Coin World:
Sign up for our free eNewsletter
Access our Dealer Directory
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on X (Twitter)
Whether you’re a current subscriber or new, you can take advantage of the best offers on magazine subscriptions available in digital, print or both! Whether you want your issue every week or every month, there’s a subscription to meet your needs.