The U.S. Mail Steamship Central America

The Central America brought Gold Rush miners from Panama to New York. On September 12 1857, the Central America carried 578 passengers, 38,000 pieces of mail, and tons of gold. The hurricane hit near the South Carolina coast. 425 passengers died, and the rest of the passengers were rescued.
In 1988 a treasure hunter named Tommy Thompson, used a radar to find the wreck which was a 1 and a 1/2 miles deep. He then brought up gold bars and gold coins.
After a big legal battle the money was split between Thompson and the insurance companies. The insurance company that was involved was around when the ship sank and they paid for most of the trip so they wanted their money back. But Thompson got 92% of the money and the insurance company got 8% of the money. Thompson sold his hoard to Dwight Manley who expects to make more than $100, million by selling the coins. There still could be more litigation and appeals, but its probably over