An AP story appeared today that makes this recent find of Odyssey Marine very, very interesting indeed.
Read the Full Article: http://tinyurl.com/c5s8ql
"TAMPA, Fla. – Florida deep-sea explorers who found $500 million in sunken treasure two years ago say they have discovered another prized shipwreck: A legendary British man-of-war that sank in the English Channel 264 years ago.
Odyssey Marine Exploration hasn't found any gold this time, but it's looking for an even bigger jackpot. The company's research indicates the HMS Victory was carrying 4 tons of gold coins that could be worth considerably more than the treasure that Odyssey raised from a sunken Spanish galleon in 2007, co-founder Greg Stemm said ahead of a news conference set for Monday in London"
"The HMS Victory was returning from Lisbon, Portugal, and was probably
transporting 100,000 gold Portuguese coins for merchants, according
to Odyssey's research. The ship had sailed there to help rescue a
Mediterranean convoy blockaded by the French in the River Tagus at
Lisbon."
A golden coin recently found on a 500-year-old Portuguese shipwreck
"Odyssey said the 31 brass cannons and other evidence on the wreck
allowed definitive identification of the HMS Victory, 175-foot
sailing ship that was separated from its fleet during a storm and
sank in the English Channel on Oct. 4, 1744, with at least 900 men
aboard. The ship was the largest and, with 110 brass cannons, the
most heavily armed vessel of its day. It was the inspiration for the
HMS Victory famously commanded by Adm. Horatio Nelson decades later."