What happened to the billion dollar wreck in Ecuador?

[treasure-hound1]

Hi all,

I’m new to this site, and have never posted anything. I was just wondering if anyone has heard anything about the 1 billion dollar shipwreck Joel Ruth claims to have found last August. I live near him and remember an article coming out in the Orlando Sentinel, Ill copy the link:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/specials/orl-treasure0806oct08,0,5406335.story

I haven’t heard anything more and haven’t seen any coins for sale from this wreck. In a year’s time, you would think something would have made the news. Did any of those wrecks in South America actually have 1 billion dollars worth of treasure on them?

Maybe he was just trying to get some investment to fund his search.


Alan

 

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[Sapper23]

Alan,



what I understand: The Ecuador government got in involved everthing on hold.
years ago, when Robert Marx was in the same area for years. everytime he found
a Spanish shipwreck, the Ecuador government took all the treasure away from him.

This is way: you say nothing when finding treasure!!!
"loose lips, sinks ship" when you in live Fl. you always follow the code!
because: DEP, DNR. or some other screwball following you home:

Sapper

 

[Mackaydon]

treasure-hound;

The answer to your question, "Did any of those wrecks in South America actually have 1 billion dollars worth of treasure on them?", is maybe, yes.

Ten years ago we found the Capitana (Jesús María de la Limpia Concepción), sunk in 1654 off Chanduy, Ecuador. Originally, she weighed 1,150 tons with a length of 122 feet and a beam of 40 feet. Carrying 60 guns, 44 of which were bronze, the ship was the flagship of the Viceroyalty of Peru and the South Sea Armada (an area which covered the countries of Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Ecuador).

More recently, Sedwick reported "This wreck was the largest loss ever experienced by the Spanish South Seas (Pacific) Fleet, of which the Jesus María de la Limpia Concepción was the capitana (“captain’s ship,” or lead vessel) in 1654. Official records reported the loss of 3 million pesos of silver (2,212 ingots, 216 chests of coins, and 22 boxes of wrought silver), augmented to a total of as much as 10 million pesos when contraband and private consignments were taken into account."

So maybe this cargo could be valued at $1B if found intact today.
Don.....


Sources:

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache...n"+Ecuador&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=14&gl=us&ie=UTF-8

http://www.adelerjewelers.com/news3.html

 

[mad4wrecks]

Is the Jesús María de la Limpia Concepción still being salvaged? If not, why?

What roles did Lou Ullian and Dave Horner play in the operation?

 

[Mackaydon]

gdaddy:

I recall a group was organized recently to go back to the Capitana site, though I don't know of their current status.

Lou and Dave were partners. Other partnerships were also involved; about ten individuals in all. Lou provided the expertise in ID-ing the coins. Dave provided funds and his writing talent ("Shipwreck: A Saga of Sea Tragedy and Sunken Treasure) where one can read about the actual discovery by Rob McClung, the subsequent salvage op. and challenges we confronted both on land and on shore. BTW, Joel Ruth was our conservator.
Don.

 

[treasure-hound1]

Thanks for the responses guys; I’m sure Don is right about the Capitana, I did some Googling and found some info about it, as well as the company that is currently salvaging the Capitana. Here is the link:

http://www.rsoperations.com/


Do you think there is still anything left on the Capitana Don?

The San José probably has a billion dollars worth on it as well, if Colombia ever allows her to be salvaged.

 

[Mackaydon]

treasure hound:
No doubt there is still treasure on the 'Capitana'. We stopped salvaging when we hit copper sheathing, but not because of that. Underneath the sheathing could certainly be more 'goodies' as well as more 'finds' spread throughout the 'debris' field. But being there is no picnic, with the 'no-see-ems' on land and the 'hungrys' in the low-vis water, it isn't Florida.

 

[Rustys Mate]

http://divepro-info.com/Article210.htm

"He laid out thousands of dollars for a salvor's permit that guarantees his rights to the area and agreed - as is customary - to share half of his find with the Ecuadorean government, which will display recovered artifacts in a national museum. The bureaucratic hassles and getting equipment through customs took months.


He set up shop in Matal, a poor fishing town so off the beaten track that it isn't on most maps.
.
Any treasure will be kept in a government vault. The team stored dive gear, food, water, guns and high-tech metal detectors in a padlocked safe house hidden behind iron gates. Organizing the operation was like "setting up a climb to Mount Everest with the mob," Ruth said."

 

[Mackaydon]

Clarification:
Rusty's Mate's entry refers to an article written about Joel Ruth (by a McKay--no relation) and another wreck, not the 'Capitana' of 1654.
Don.....

 

[signumops]

Joel Ruth will return from Ecuador with a fortune. He is in the right place, and the charts are available elsewhere. I have published copies from the Univ. of Calif. Check out the Ringrose Waggoner and look for yourself.

 

[treasure-hound1]

Hey Guys and Gal,

I dont doubt that you are right, I believe he's in the right spot, as very few things have been recovered from South America, and I've read that more than 60% of all Spanish treasures came from there. I was just asking for an update on the project as i havent heard anything other than the claim that he had discovered a "1 billion" and another source said "2 billion" dollar wreck, in over a year.

I hope he avoids the " 'hungrys' " and finds the "motherload", and gets some coins on the market, since i am an avid collector and have seen nothing new in quite some time.

Good Luck to him and to all of you,

Alan

 

[Rustys Mate]

My mistake, it's just the thread said billion dollar wreck from ecuador and the magdalena is the first thing that comes to my mind.

 

[Rustys Mate]

No, it wasn't a mistake now that I looked back, Treasure hound asked about Ruth.

Am I mistaken or are Ruth and Marx working the same wreck?

 

[mad4wrecks]

Ruth and Marx would never work together on the same wreck. Ecuador almost isn't big enough to keep them separated.

 

[Nugget Hog]

Ruth and Marx are not working together. Ruth gave Marx 110 pieces of eight for information about the ship that Marx had found while in the archives in Seville.

 

[diverlynn]

Joel was on the Polly L a couple of weeks ago. He was home for a visit. Amelia was working in the area (E-89) where he found over 200 coins on the beach just after the hurricanes several years ago. From what I understand he has one of the most impressive coin collections around these parts.

Diverlynn