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 Replies: 39 / Views: 5,004 |
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/15/europ...d/index.htmlI'm beside myself.  Further, they probably left 2/3ds of the value on the table by not selling them as numismatic items. What absolute fools, especially for a government so attuned to preserving artifacts as the British.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5393 Posts |
Probably coins withdrawn from circulation in India and not much better than scrap to start with.After all this time in salt water I for one doubt any remaining numismatic value. You can buy Edward VII and George V Rupees in near choice Unc for 20 bucks.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2589 Posts |
They could have made a decent amount by saving the best of them, and marketing them as "shipwreck treasure". I'm sure there are certain dealers who would have paid a premium over melt for them.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2805 Posts |
If they have 100 tons, I assume that "saving the best" would take a LOT of work.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
4911 Posts |
I was very upset when I read it too. They could have sold em in bags of 10 or 100 or something as numismatic and historic items. I know I would've bought one...
Feel free to call me Will.
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
At 5000m these things are not going to deteriorate. The ocean is far different down there.
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Valued Member
United States
397 Posts |
Wow, what a shame. That's history that can never be brought back.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19935 Posts |
Sad, I'm sure collectors somewhere or even a museum would have liked to have a shot at them....it's history.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1314 Posts |
The problem is that once a person becomes a politician, their entire world view changes. Earning and saving no longer exist as we know it. Tax and print takes it's place.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
Even salt water corroded shipwreck silver coins are worth a lot more than their weight in silver, when sold with certificates of authenticity. A commercial opportunity well and truely lost.  |
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Quote:
The problem is that once a person becomes a politician, their entire world view changes. Earning and saving no longer exist as we know it. Tax and print takes it's place.
What bothers me most is that, even if all the British Government cared about was generating revenue, they failed at that too. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7390 Posts |
They pulled a Pittman! With UK and India involvement it has striking similarities... Its a shame how good bad ideas can look on paper... I wish they would have sold it by the kg or lb in canvas bags. Would have been cool to buy shipwreck silver that way and play with it!
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Moderator
United States
187702 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6370 Posts |
Quote:
At 5000m these things are not going to deteriorate. The ocean is far different down there. They said the same thing about the Titanic. Now it is almost deteriorated to the point of structural failure. Looking at the pictures of those coins, they seem to have quite a bit of green and blue corrosion, which would seriously cut down on the numismatic value. However, I agree with everyone in the notion that a good percent of them should have been saved as numismatic items. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7390 Posts |
Uh oh... just saw it on fox news. Those coins were nice. What a shame
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
A big pile of modern silver rupees, already marked for scrap when they were loaded on the ship, its not so much of a loss. Those coins are dirt common as it is - they had no numismatic value when they were loaded onto the ship, the sinking is an obscure one and the ship unimportant. The only thing thats happened here is a 70 year delay in the melting process.
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Replies: 39 / Views: 5,004 |
Posted 04/15/2015 9:18 pm
