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I'm guessing you're running with the "Experts believe it contains at least 200 tons of gold, silver and emeralds" line from the article. Without further breakd

I'm guessing you're running with the "Experts believe it contains at least 200 tons of gold, silver and emeralds" line from the article. Without further breakdown you don't really know if you're talking about $12 billion (if virtually all of the 200 tons is gold) or $150 million (if the hoard is virtually all silver) or (probably) somewhere in between. EDIT: Further research (reading the Wikipedia page) makes it sound closer to your estimate. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_galleon_San_José https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_galleon_San_José: > The wreck of the San José is estimated to be worth about $14.43 billion as of 2021, based on the speculation that it had up to 11 million 4-doubloons (i.e. 11 million 8 escudos gold coins, or 11 million coins each of 27 grams of 92% gold, totaling 8.8 million troy ounces AGW, or $11.5 billion) and many silver coins on board at the time of its sinking I now heartily endorse your plan!

nonethewiser 4y ago
There is no way most of it is accessible.
- dylan604 4y ago
  I can imagine a new History Channel show where Robert Clotworthy no longer utters the phrase 'There is an island...', but now says 'There is a shipwreck...' Commercials will be more than content. Seasons will be made out of 15 minutes of footage. It'll be huge!
  - konfusinomicon 4y ago
    this sounds like a job for Dog the bounty hunter
spydum 4y ago
real question: we are assuming the value of the gold is market price by weight, but would people really melt this down? i think the value of the coins could be quite different than just the materials they are made of (maybe that sets the floor value)
- Arrath 4y ago
  Quite possibly, in that it is 'easier' (after all the risk entailed in the salvage of the wreck, ofc) to sell plain gold in some form rather than historical artifacts that are easier to track, more notable, have a smaller audience, etc etc. Its tragic, but sensible in a cold blooded, economical fashion. E.g. Would the criminal enterprise that went to such great lengths to obtain the material rather sell a sizable quantity of unmarked gold ingots to WeDon'tCareWhereItCameFromJewelers LLC for a nice return, or go through an arduous process to sell coins in varied quantities to wealthy collectors.

nonethewiser 4y ago

There is no way most of it is accessible.

dylan604 4y ago
I can imagine a new History Channel show where Robert Clotworthy no longer utters the phrase 'There is an island...', but now says 'There is a shipwreck...' Commercials will be more than content. Seasons will be made out of 15 minutes of footage. It'll be huge!
- konfusinomicon 4y ago
  this sounds like a job for Dog the bounty hunter

spydum 4y ago

real question: we are assuming the value of the gold is market price by weight, but would people really melt this down? i think the value of the coins could be quite different than just the materials they are made of (maybe that sets the floor value)

Arrath 4y ago
Quite possibly, in that it is 'easier' (after all the risk entailed in the salvage of the wreck, ofc) to sell plain gold in some form rather than historical artifacts that are easier to track, more notable, have a smaller audience, etc etc. Its tragic, but sensible in a cold blooded, economical fashion. E.g. Would the criminal enterprise that went to such great lengths to obtain the material rather sell a sizable quantity of unmarked gold ingots to WeDon'tCareWhereItCameFromJewelers LLC for a nice return, or go through an arduous process to sell coins in varied quantities to wealthy collectors.