Seventeen tons of gold and silver coins headed back to Spain.
Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc., a Florida company, that found sunken treasure from a 19th century warship must return more than a half-million silver and gold coins to the Spanish government by next week. U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Pizzo in Tampa, Florida, yesterday ordered Odyssey to return the treasure from Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes to Spanish custody on Feb. 24. Odyssey made an international splash when it discovered the wreck off Portugal’s Atlantic coast near the Straits of Gibraltar. The Mercedes was believed to have had 200 people aboard when it was sunk in 1804. The 17 tons of coins and other items are valued at more than $500 million, making it the biggest sunken treasure recovery in history.
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