US Supreme Court refuses appeal over ship treasure
Source: AFP
WASHINGTON The US Supreme Court on Monday refused to grant a final appeal to a Florida company that discovered silver and gold on a sunken Spanish vessel but was then ordered to return the treasure to Spain ...
The decision effectively confirmed a February 1 ruling by a federal court in Atlanta that the ship, which was sunk in 1804 near the Straits of Gibraltar during a battle with the British fleet, remained the property of Spain.
The ship was found in May 2007 at a depth of 1,700 feet (518 meters) in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Portugal. It was returning from Peru ...
The hundreds of gold objects and more than 500,000 silver coins discovered by Odyssey Marine Exploration, said to be worth $500 million, was reputed to be the most valuable find in history, and the loot has already been returned to Spain ...
Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jdWzd9-HHPlKrLTGZCAfwo6s4J5w?docId=CNG.f66868a555cdb1f5203077afbbb81a87.e1
Poll_Blind
(23,864 posts)Not much else to say about that.
PB
struggle4progress
(118,041 posts)Odyssey Marine Exploration found the wreck near Gilbralter, scooped up the treasure, and quietly brought it back to the US
That's rather like looting an old Amerindian or Egyptian site IMO: it's nothing at all like careful archaeology -- it's just grabbing at potential profit
Poll_Blind
(23,864 posts)I have to say I still think if someone is going to go through the trouble to find and salvage 200 year old treasure, they should be entitled to something for their trouble. Of course, that's just my opinion and I realize (heh heh) that that viewpoint is not necessarily supported by international or Spanish law.
Amended: What the salvage company did was bullshit too. Especially the clandestine way in which they did it, which leads me to believe they almost certainly had a very good idea about what the consequences would be.
PB
Sen. Walter Sobchak
(8,692 posts)Not exactly ground breaking news.
Archae
(46,262 posts)And what about the Native Americans all that loot was stolen from?
"Oh, they don't count."
slackmaster
(60,567 posts)She lost.
CanonRay
(14,038 posts)The SCOTUS is really on a fucked-up roll. Guess that pays Spain back for the Spanish-American War...
ManiacJoe
(10,136 posts)McCamy Taylor
(19,240 posts)TexasProgresive
(12,148 posts)Spain stole it and it should be returned to the place of origin.
cstanleytech
(26,084 posts)After all the gold is both culturally and historically significant to both nations.
happyslug
(14,779 posts)The issue was simple, this treasure was on a Spanish WAR SHIP and under international law, such War Ships always remain the property of the Country that operated it as a war ship (Unlike Commercial vessels, whose owners have to show a lack of abandonment to retain ownership).
Thread from March 13, 2012, when the ruling the Supreme Court refused to hear was issued:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/101473974#post15
FailureToCommunicate
(13,989 posts)AsahinaKimi
(20,776 posts)Outragious!"
ManiacJoe
(10,136 posts)should have known about that 1902 treaty if they are in the habit of looking for sunken Spanish ships.
minavasht
(413 posts)if I had spent the time and money to find it, it would have been lost at sea while I was delivering it to Spain. After all, sea travel is dangerous and risky.
Let them then find it and retrieve it again.