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The fate of more than half a million gold and silver coins found in a shipwreck is being decided by a US court
Odyssey co-founder Greg Stemm, left, and Project Manager Tom Dettweiler examine a coin recovered from the Black Swan shipwreck by Odyssey Marine Exploration. Source: AP
US deep-sea explorer firm Odyssey has told a US court it refuses to recognise Spain as the owner of a massive treasure haul recovered from a shipwreck in the Atlantic, a company source says.
Lawyers for the firm based in Florida argued before an appeals court for a reversal of a 2009 decision by a trial judge that recognised Spain as rightful owner of the galleon treasure, which includes more than half a million coins and pieces of gold and silver.
"The district court erred in awarding Spain the coins. Without jurisdiction over the property, the court has no authority to dispose of the coins other than to return them to the party in possession at the time the matter came before the court," the lawyers said in their presentation.
Odyssey is embroiled in a prolonged legal battle with Spain, as well as with descendants of the ships owners and Peru, which claims the pricey gold and silver originated in the country.
In May 2007, Odyssey announced it found an underwater motherlode of coins and other precious objects in a sunken 19th-century galleon they code-named the Black Swan.
Odyssey said the 15.4-tonne treasure was found in "international waters in the Atlantic Ocean", but never gave an exact location citing security concerns.
Spains suspicions were raised when the company discreetly shipped its massive find to the United States via the British-owned port of Gibraltar.
"Spain is not the defendant in this case nor is any vessel," the lawyers said in their presentation, according to the company source.
"The defendant is property recovered from international waters, namely the 590,000 coins."
Spain has identified the ship as the Our Lady of Mercedes. when the Mercedes sank in 1804 it led Spain to declare war on Britain and re-enter the Napoleonic Wars.
Madrid contested the companys claim to the wreck in a US court in Florida, arguing that if it was a Spanish military vessel instead of a private commercial ship or if it was located in Spanish waters, any treasure would belong to Spain.
In December 2009 the Florida court ruled that Odyssey return the treasure to Spain. That ruling is now under appeal, with Odyssey arguing that Spains claim is baseless in part because the Mercedes was a commercial vessel.
The company insists that its shipwreck salvagers acted lawfully and appropriately in the recovery of artifacts.
A decision on the matter could take "some weeks or months", according to Odyssey.
The fate of more than half a million gold and silver coins found in a shipwreck is being decided by a US court | Gold Prices
Business: Spain sues Odyssey Marine
Entrevista - El expolio del Odyssey en mp3 (06/06 a las 17:08:06) 25:28 297785 - iVoox
Explorers take Spanish treasure claim to US court
By: GREG BLUESTEIN 05/24/11 9:39 AM
Associated Press
Florida deep-sea explorers are asking a U.S. federal appeals court to overturn a judge's ruling that 17 tons of treasure recovered from a sunken Spanish galleon belongs to Spain.
Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration asked a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday to give it the rights to an estimated $500 million in coins and artifacts salvaged about four years ago.
A federal judge in Tampa ruled in 2009 that Spain is the rightful owner of the treasure from the navy frigate Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes y las Animas.
Odyssey counters that it is entitled to most of the loot because records show the vessel was on a commercial mission when it sank under fire in 1804.
A Spanish Culture Ministry official declined immediate comment.
http://www.sfexamine...-claim-us-court
Odyssey Marine Exploration es una empresa estadounidense sospechosa de expolio con sede en Tampa (Estado de Florida), presidida y cofundada en 1994 por Greg Stemm y dedicada a la explotación de los restos de hundimientos de barcos bien sea vendiendo los hallazgos o comercializando reportajes sobre las operaciones de recuperación de dichos restos. Para realizar su actividad, en cualquier parte del mundo, utiliza recursos de la tecnología más moderna. Entre los descubrimientos de Odyssey figura el punto de naufragio del buque estadounidense SS Republic hundido por un huracán frente a las costas de Georgia en 1865. En 2003 de él se recuperaron más de 50.000 monedas y 14.000 artefactos a 1.700 pies de profundidad que reportaron grandes beneficios a la compañía. Odyssey cotiza en la bolsa de Nueva York desde 2003
Wikileaks Reveals State Dept Deal with Spain In Black Swan Treasure Lawsuit : Coin Collecting News
Odyssey co-founder Greg Stemm, left, and Project Manager Tom Dettweiler examine a coin recovered from the Black Swan shipwreck by Odyssey Marine Exploration. Source: AP
US deep-sea explorer firm Odyssey has told a US court it refuses to recognise Spain as the owner of a massive treasure haul recovered from a shipwreck in the Atlantic, a company source says.
Lawyers for the firm based in Florida argued before an appeals court for a reversal of a 2009 decision by a trial judge that recognised Spain as rightful owner of the galleon treasure, which includes more than half a million coins and pieces of gold and silver.
"The district court erred in awarding Spain the coins. Without jurisdiction over the property, the court has no authority to dispose of the coins other than to return them to the party in possession at the time the matter came before the court," the lawyers said in their presentation.
Odyssey is embroiled in a prolonged legal battle with Spain, as well as with descendants of the ships owners and Peru, which claims the pricey gold and silver originated in the country.
In May 2007, Odyssey announced it found an underwater motherlode of coins and other precious objects in a sunken 19th-century galleon they code-named the Black Swan.
Odyssey said the 15.4-tonne treasure was found in "international waters in the Atlantic Ocean", but never gave an exact location citing security concerns.
Spains suspicions were raised when the company discreetly shipped its massive find to the United States via the British-owned port of Gibraltar.
"Spain is not the defendant in this case nor is any vessel," the lawyers said in their presentation, according to the company source.
"The defendant is property recovered from international waters, namely the 590,000 coins."
Spain has identified the ship as the Our Lady of Mercedes. when the Mercedes sank in 1804 it led Spain to declare war on Britain and re-enter the Napoleonic Wars.
Madrid contested the companys claim to the wreck in a US court in Florida, arguing that if it was a Spanish military vessel instead of a private commercial ship or if it was located in Spanish waters, any treasure would belong to Spain.
In December 2009 the Florida court ruled that Odyssey return the treasure to Spain. That ruling is now under appeal, with Odyssey arguing that Spains claim is baseless in part because the Mercedes was a commercial vessel.
The company insists that its shipwreck salvagers acted lawfully and appropriately in the recovery of artifacts.
A decision on the matter could take "some weeks or months", according to Odyssey.
The fate of more than half a million gold and silver coins found in a shipwreck is being decided by a US court | Gold Prices
Business: Spain sues Odyssey Marine
Entrevista - El expolio del Odyssey en mp3 (06/06 a las 17:08:06) 25:28 297785 - iVoox
Explorers take Spanish treasure claim to US court
By: GREG BLUESTEIN 05/24/11 9:39 AM
Associated Press
Florida deep-sea explorers are asking a U.S. federal appeals court to overturn a judge's ruling that 17 tons of treasure recovered from a sunken Spanish galleon belongs to Spain.
Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration asked a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday to give it the rights to an estimated $500 million in coins and artifacts salvaged about four years ago.
A federal judge in Tampa ruled in 2009 that Spain is the rightful owner of the treasure from the navy frigate Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes y las Animas.
Odyssey counters that it is entitled to most of the loot because records show the vessel was on a commercial mission when it sank under fire in 1804.
A Spanish Culture Ministry official declined immediate comment.
http://www.sfexamine...-claim-us-court
Odyssey Marine Exploration es una empresa estadounidense sospechosa de expolio con sede en Tampa (Estado de Florida), presidida y cofundada en 1994 por Greg Stemm y dedicada a la explotación de los restos de hundimientos de barcos bien sea vendiendo los hallazgos o comercializando reportajes sobre las operaciones de recuperación de dichos restos. Para realizar su actividad, en cualquier parte del mundo, utiliza recursos de la tecnología más moderna. Entre los descubrimientos de Odyssey figura el punto de naufragio del buque estadounidense SS Republic hundido por un huracán frente a las costas de Georgia en 1865. En 2003 de él se recuperaron más de 50.000 monedas y 14.000 artefactos a 1.700 pies de profundidad que reportaron grandes beneficios a la compañía. Odyssey cotiza en la bolsa de Nueva York desde 2003
Wikileaks Reveals State Dept Deal with Spain In Black Swan Treasure Lawsuit : Coin Collecting News
