Planes Laden With Shipwreck Treasure Land In Spain

Who owns these pieces?
A.) The natives of Central America, because they were the original owners of the land from where the silver was mined,
B.) The Spanish, because the made the coins under the (then) Spanish law?
C.) The salvage company, because they recovered them?
D.) The State of Florida, because the were found in the sea off the Florida Coast?
E.) The People of the United States, because they were found in U.S. territorial waters?

There is always someone who will disagree with a Court's findings with a passion, for any number of legitimate reasons.

Of course the Spanish Culture Ministery would infer that these coins are Spanish.

My choice would be C. Since the Spanish Government didn't bother to look for it for 207 years and it was found in international waters, the bulk of the treasure should have gone to the salvage company. However the courts did not see it that way. Up until this recent ruling (based on agreements made during the Clinton administration regarding "warships", with a sketchy definition of "warship" in the agreement) the Admiralty Laws have always been interpreted as follows:

The law of salvage is also used to decide treasure cases. For all intents and purposes, the law of "finders keepers, losers weepers" does not apply when one pulls treasure from the sea, even if the treasure has been lying on the seabed for centuries. A court will apply the IMO factors, and determine the skill, risk and capital cost that went into the salvage, as well as the success of the effort. The point will not be lost on the court that but for the salvor the treasure would still be lying beneath the waves. The awards in treasure cases tend, for these reasons, to be quite a large percentage of the total value of the recovery. The balance generally goes either to the lost ship's home state (Spain, often) or to the corporate descendants of the insurers who centuries ago paid claims based on the lost.

Salvage is unquestionably the most fascinating area in the civil law.

If the ship had been found in Spanish territorial waters, then yes, Article 44 of the Spanish Law 16/1985 on Spanish Historical Heritage indicates that the finder of culturally significant artefacts (defined under the law as anything over 100 years old) is entitled to half the official valuation, if they report their discovery to the authorities within 30 days, or "immediately in the case of casual finds". Being at sea, Odyssey would have first needed to apply to search Spanish waters, which would have required a Spanish government agent onboard while they excavated.

Note that it's a share of the value (as determined by government-appointed valuers), not a share of the actual treasure. I have no idea how "fair" the government valuers are in Spain.

However, this ship was found in international waters. Spanish laws did not apply. Out there, the Law of the Sea applies, under which warship wrecks are immune from plunder. Odyssey did not gamble on the US courts agreeing with Spain that treasure barges would be included in the definition of "warship". In all likelihood, if Odyssey had gone straight to Spain with their finding, the Spanish would have said, "Thank you for finding our lost warship. Now go away and leave it alone; if we need help digging it up, we'll call you.".


That's a bit harsh. The records of the battle show the ship exploded over deep water; the Spanish believed there wouldn't be anything left worth finding and any surviving pieces would have been beyond their technology to locate. Odyssey were the first crew onsite to have the technology to even have a look for a wreck at that depth.

Odyssey claims the necessity for secrecy in order to avoid claim-jumping by their competitors. But in this case, I think the secrecy has worked against them. Outright lying about the location of the wreck site (they originally claimed it was much farther to the north, closer to Britain than Portugal) made it look like they were deliberately keeping the Spanish in the dark.

Odyssey had earlier found what they believed to be a British warship in Spanish territorial waters, and were in negotiations with the Spanish to excavate it when this Black Swan fiasco erupted. They've got buckley's chance of gaining Spanish co-operation now, unless the Spanish decide to be magnanimous in their victory. So Odyssey has lost not just one shipwreck, but two.

It is my understanding that the central argument of Spain is that the ship was sunk in a battle (and not even in wartimes), which means that Spain never lost property of the coins (unlike captured treasures in wartimes or force majeure in a hurricane).
The courts followed that argument.

In my personal opinion, Spain would be very wise to sell some of the coins to the public. With all the news coverage around it, such coins are very likely to bring much more than their numismatic worth (which is, as far as I understand, not much above their bullion value since the recovered coins are very likely not rare ones).

Also, not all coins can be placed in museums, they are simply too many. But there are already a lot of Spanish museums that have asked for a part of the treasure being given to them.

Sounds like how the state won't help a woman get back child support, but if she hires a lawyer and wins, they are quick to take back any money they gave her. Kinda gives her no incentive to try to set things straight.