: Michael-Robert.
Bronze Member
- Feb 2, 2013
- 1,539
- 2,203
- Detector(s) used
- Many
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Chinese Gold Ingots Stolen From 18th Century Shipwreck Have Been Returned:
The United States government has just returned a collection of historically significant artifacts stolen by fortune hunters to the French government, to whom the artifacts rightfully belong according to international law. Included in this valuable bounty were five gold ingots inscribed with Chinese characters, which were manufactured and exchanged in China in the 18th century. These ingots were once used as a form of currency and had been in the possession of French East Indian Trading Company representatives when the ship they were traveling on sunk off the coast of France on December 3, 1746.
After being lost for more than two centuries, the gold ingots were “illegally” recovered from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean by a team of divers who discovered the remains of the shipwreck in 1974. They were seized by agents from the Homeland Security Investigations arm of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency in 2018, after they were put up for sale online by a California auction house.
On March 2, an official from Homeland Security Investigations returned the ingots and the other precious historical artifacts to the French ambassador of the United States at his residence in Washington, D. C.
**The Gold Ingots and the Treasure of the Prince de Conty:
On December 3, 1746, the trading ship Prince de Conty was due to arrive at the port city of L’Orient, France, carrying a shipload of goods acquired from Nanjing, China. The ship was carrying many highly coveted items, including tea, Qing Dynasty porcelain, and approximately 100 gold ingots bearing Chinese inscriptions . These gold ingots would be worth 25,000 dollars (23,000 euros) each on today’s gold market, putting the total value of the shipment above the 2.5-million-dollar mark (2.3 million euros).
https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/gold-ingots-0016501
The United States government has just returned a collection of historically significant artifacts stolen by fortune hunters to the French government, to whom the artifacts rightfully belong according to international law. Included in this valuable bounty were five gold ingots inscribed with Chinese characters, which were manufactured and exchanged in China in the 18th century. These ingots were once used as a form of currency and had been in the possession of French East Indian Trading Company representatives when the ship they were traveling on sunk off the coast of France on December 3, 1746.
After being lost for more than two centuries, the gold ingots were “illegally” recovered from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean by a team of divers who discovered the remains of the shipwreck in 1974. They were seized by agents from the Homeland Security Investigations arm of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency in 2018, after they were put up for sale online by a California auction house.
On March 2, an official from Homeland Security Investigations returned the ingots and the other precious historical artifacts to the French ambassador of the United States at his residence in Washington, D. C.
**The Gold Ingots and the Treasure of the Prince de Conty:
On December 3, 1746, the trading ship Prince de Conty was due to arrive at the port city of L’Orient, France, carrying a shipload of goods acquired from Nanjing, China. The ship was carrying many highly coveted items, including tea, Qing Dynasty porcelain, and approximately 100 gold ingots bearing Chinese inscriptions . These gold ingots would be worth 25,000 dollars (23,000 euros) each on today’s gold market, putting the total value of the shipment above the 2.5-million-dollar mark (2.3 million euros).
https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/gold-ingots-0016501
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