Page 2 - Shipwreck Coins
- Posted: May 06, 2021
Read more »Occasionally customers call and ask us, "Can I buy gold ingots?" Many of them are especially interested in gold ingots from the SS Central American Shipwreck. What's interesting is where these gold ingots came from—The California Gold rush. It was a very fascinating time in American History.
This is when massive fortunes were made and lost. Most importantly, gold remained a testament to this exciting time period. Prospectors were frantic to discover it. They took gold nuggets in rocks to gold dust in rivers. This raw gold was turned into gold coins and bars—called ingots.
The gold was first mined in the California Hills and then taken to private refiners or assayers. They would weigh the gold and estimate its purity. Furthermore, it paid the miners for their hard work. The gold was amassed by the refiners, so the assayers could melt and refine
- Posted: April 12, 2018
Read more »The SS Central America was also known as the "Ship of Gold." It operated during the 1850's transporting freshly mined gold from the California Gold Rush to New York. She did this twice a month until the largest hurricane of the 19th century struck on September 11, 1857. The ship sank along with 425 souls. Gold Coins from the 1857 Ship of Gold, millions of dollars went into the dark waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The loss of the cargo was so important to the financial market that it caused the Great Financial Panic of 1857.Over 160 years later a few chosen dealers were picked to distribute these amazing golden treasures. Austin Rare Coins is one them honored to sell these shipwreck beauties to the public. Only 3,154 gold coins were recovered from the second salvage of the SS Central
