Spain Gets the Gold (and Silver)

From the Feb. 25, 2012, The West (Australia) AFB "Spain to receive shipwreck treasure after legal battle."

Tons of gold and silver from a Spanish ship that sank in 1804 and was discovered by a U.S. deep sea exploration company are on its way to Spain aboard two military planes. (You don't want those pesky pirates getting it, you know.)

This ends a five-year legal battle between the Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. and Spain over treasure taken from the Spanish frigate Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, the most valuable treasure discovered in history, some 49,000 pounds of gold and silver.

A British warship sank it off the Portuguese coast near the Strait of Gibraltar during the Battle of Cape Santa Maria in October 1804. (I've never heard of this battle, but expect it had something to do with the Napoleonic Wars.)

Odyssey discovered the shipwreck in May 2007 and shipped the treasure to the United States without notifying the Spanish government.

Roughly $500 million in coins, minted in Peru, were stored in a warehouse in Tampa along with religious images.

Spain wanted the treasure back for some reason and courts said it had to be returned. (Hopefully, there was a finder's fee in there somewhere.)

Of course, remembering the Spanish stole the gold and silver from the Indians.

 --Cooter