The news feeds on this site are independently provided by Adfero Limited © and do not represent the views or opinions of the World Gold Council.

Thursday, 14th August 2008 (1899 views)

A pair of gold coins have returned to their birth place 160 years after being lost in a ship wreck, reports the Dahlonega Nugget.

After the $5 gold pieces were created in the Dahlonega Mint in the 1840s, they were lost off the Gulf of Mexico in 1846 when a steamship sank in a storm.

In 2006, a group of residents from New Orleans were able to salvage the shipwreck and discovered $1 million (£533,020) in coins and other goods.

Since then, the coins went to auction at Stack's in Baltimore.

Dahlonega resident Al Adams went to the auction and bought the two coins for a combined price of $30,400. One coin was minted in 1844, the other in 1842.

Explaining why he decided to bid for the coins, Mr Adams said: "It was a great story. The coins had been submerged in the Gulf of Mexico for 160 years."

Dahlonega is a town in Georgia and sits in front of the Appalachian Mountains.

 

« Back to Gold News stories