http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/shipwrecks/news.html#zuytdorp
Zuytdorp coins seized
In January 2010, following a report that stolen objects from a shipwreck were hidden in a backyard, the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts with the assistance of West Australian (WA) Police, recovered more than 1,400 silver coins. These coins are believed to have sunk with the Zuytdorp in 1712, north of Geraldton, off the WA Coast.
The Zuytdorp is one of four Dutch East India ships known to be shipwrecked along the WA coast. There were no known survivors from the Zuytdorp, which had a rich cargo that included about 250,000 guilders. The seized coins were handed to the WA Museum to be added to their maritime research collection.
The department is now investigating the circumstances that saw the coins removed from the shipwreck site.
An "interesting" news report that says as much by what it doesn't say as it does!.
Theres a HUGE amount that I've not let on about the wrecks situations here n W.A.
The Zuytdorp wreck is one I have a LARGE amount of evidence about who and when they plundered the wreck.
I've mentioned the film/s I have, and the latest recovery where the low alpha lead was moved and dumped (I estimate $6M worth in today's figures).
I in fact have film copies of EVERY recovery mission to the Zuytdorp, bye the museum - but even earlier than that right back to the 1920's first expedition.
I have film footage of the "chief of police at the time" using dynamite on the rocks and cliff face to free coins washed up onto that area and left there by survivors as they scrambled from wreck to shore via the steep cliff.
I've footage of them making a landing strip to fly out their booty and land supplies bye air - at the time completely burying most everything up on top of the cliffs where the survivors camped for a long time awaiting rescue.
I've footage of them taking away a timber bow decoration/mermaid type carving off the ship.
All of this occurred before the legislation was enacted in the 1970's - the films cover periods from the 1920's to the 1970's
The "expeditions" were financed by the West Australian newspaper, so NO information made the press about the silver coins being recovered.
The ones in the news article above could well have been recovered legally, prior to the legislation's enactment, and even now, some 50 or 60 years later the WAMM is using its retrospective powers to seize anything they can that has value.
In the Films are footage of Army SAS troops climbing into caves on the cliff face and finding relics! (They also found a Zuyptdorf engraving and date 1722? inside one of the caves but were instructed to obliterate it with a sledge hammer, which they did.....on film)!".
So there is no dispute about the expurgation of dated dutch engravings on shore.
Some of these people within the film, looting and destroying the historic and high fiscal value relics - went on to become "directors of the board" who controlled the maritime museum once the legislation was enacted. Some made extensive careers writing books about the wreck and their discovery of it.
These group eventually turned on each other. There were even murders.
One of the films shows a brave young pilot, flying in supplies onto the rough bush air strip they made, with an old tractor they towed and drove to the site all the way from Perth, specifically for that purpose!.
The Pilot was one of the Mickelberg brothers (Brian) who was later killed in a highly suspicious light plane crash...
As we can see THEY (including he) was involved with the chief of police & editor of the daily paper in plundering the wreck, he'd fly in and dive alone on the wreck and fly out again at times.
Non of this was illegal at the time but - things developed...
http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/190802_s3.htm
You can read above how the Mickelberg boys (3 of) were set up by corrupt cops for the Perth Mint Swindle crime.
Some very powerful and corrupt people were and in some cases still are, involved in all the looting and plundering of our known wrecks, and they still now use the retrospective part of the Legislation to steal any legally obtained relics, and yet non of them are on display in the WAMM, and many have turned up in private overseas collections.
They jailed Robinson - the guy who found the Vergulde Draeke wreck on the 60's - , stripped him of all his legally obtained relics and hounded him until he took his own life in prison..... all because he found a wreck before there was any legislation governing such things.
These same people blowing up the zuyptorf wreck and plundering the loot - were the ones jailing Robinson and stealing his Vergulde Draeke relics. I lived thru this period and as a result of what I saw transpiring - did the dutiful thing and reported my find to the WAMM - and they dismissed it totally out of hand thankfully, as a local coastal cutter wreck they were already familiar with and didn't bother to investigate it any further, with an on site inspection of the location which I gave.
30 odd years later here we are - with many dead bodies buried as a result of their involvement in the international scale thefts talking place with relics from the Batavia, Vergulde Draeke and Zuyptdorf wrecks.
I'm not about to give the location and details to this same corrupt cabal of people.
One only has to read the book "Mickelberge stitch"
http://www.amazon.com/Mickelberg-Stitch-Avon-Lovell/dp/B000OHECKI?tag=treasurenet01-20
To realise how corrupt and deadly our Police and Museum Board of directors could be in these matters - covering up the theft of relics was ALL part of the big game and the Local Newspaper editor was in on it, what chance of getting a fair report in the newspaper to defend oneself?
The reason I kept this secret so long is - quite simply I didn't want to end up dead like all the other wreck finders, so that our corrupt cabal of wreck plunderers - who control, The Courts, The Parliament (retrospective legislation to steal everyone's caches of legitimately obtained relics), The Police, The Newspaper & TV....... etc - could just publicly loot yet another Dutch East Indiaman for private gain.
Name's Cupid, not stupid as the saying goes. Say nowt, keep yer head down and ass up, and don't stick your head above the parapet, lest it get knocked off, with a big (and highly corrupt) stick!.
I've been in and around this stuff for years - well more than 30 years - lived out at the Houtman Abrolhos where the Batavia sunk.
I've lived and worked out there with the cray fishers who found the wreck - long before it was ever reported to the WAMM - and then the Museum plundered it! They are the ones who've told me about their missing artifacts all handed in as per the new retrospective legislation, yet not on the register of relics at the museum years later when they go to view them.
These are the same guys - who as kids - used to take their dads tender dinghy's and row over to West Wallaby Island and have sling shot wars. They are the ones who found the collapsed remnants of Webbe Hayse shelters "forts" on the island and rebuilt the walls out of the flat plate coral as "forts" to play slingshot wars against each other.
WAMM experts came along and when shown the forts, publicly declared them to be the 350 year old "originals".....
What are the now grown kids going to say? They know how stupid (and corrupt) some of the WAMM marine archaeologists can be from first hand experience.
Until there's been a royal commission into the WAMM, internal and external audits of the relics they hold and whats on display and what went to the Dutch and was then given back recently, how can the public or anyone with wreck location knowledge have ANY faith in those presently charged with protecting our maritime heritage.
They certainly do not share my confidence in them at all.
If they could just show us the collection of 7000 coins they harvested from the Zuytdorf wreck on the film I have of them doing just that in the late 70's AFTER the legislation was enacted, they might have some credibility!
Until they can show us publicly the 7000 recovered coins from that ONE dive expedition, recorded in their own literature report of the dives, they cannot be trusted.
Their entire probity is at issue - something they refuse to ever address, because of the public embarrassment it would inevitably cause.
I appreciate that there are acts of the sea etc, available as legal recourse, but the facts are the shipwrecks legislation says it over rides all other acts state federal and international, and is the ONLY pertinent act in Australia & specifically WA.
Maybe I'll write a book about it - to be released after my death - with the details and location, at least that way - someone else than me can deal with all the pressure etc involved in trying to get anything done properly with respect to maritime archaeology in this state.
Its sad that its such a corrupt business, that survives under a corrupted govt process where the biggest crooks have protection from prosecution, despite all the murders etc already committed, still exists today.
It's not like an investigative journalist will ever blow the case wide open - because the local daily paper owner is in on it and has been since the 1920's, along with the chief of police and SAS army guys, the Mickelberge boys and so on.
Getting involved with that murderous lot, is a sure fire recipe to turn up dead somewhere.
Lewandowski the corrupt cop, dead at his own hand after confession to the Mickelberg stitch.
Don Hancock his CIB boss, dead after his car blew up after a day at the races with his bookmaker friend! (No one ever mentioned one of the Mickelberge boys spent time in Vietnam - as a demolition expert!)
The death "officially" blamed on a local Bikie Gang!
Robinson who found the Vergulde Draeke - and was stripped of his entire fortune of relics - dead (at his own hand?) while in prison - the morning his acquittal of all charges was to be announced in court!.
There's a long list of "mysterious deaths" associated with the corrupt cabal In WA who run this state, and consider any shipwreck wealth entirely their own!
Best to stay well away from ALL of them... if one wishes to keep breathing!
Cheers
" Getting stuff out of our country ain't easy for the average 
Ihave both from the 1500's and 1600's...and I'm not exactly an expert on anything but...even for me its pretty easy to differentiate the coins. 
