One of the many historic items recovered from the fabled 'Ship of Gold,' is the lid to the remnants of the oldest known Wells Fargo treasure shipment box. All photos: Holabird Western Americana Collections.
One of the many historic items recovered from the fabled 'Ship of Gold,' is the lid to the remnants of the oldest known Wells Fargo treasure shipment box. All photos: Holabird Western Americana Collections.
This pair of San Francisco Gold Rush jeans may have been made by Levi Strauss in his early years in business.
This pair of San Francisco Gold Rush jeans may have been made by Levi Strauss in his early years in business.
A daguerreotype metal plate photograph of an unidentified young woman who the scientific mission recovery team nicknamed 'Mona Lisa of the Deep.'
A daguerreotype metal plate photograph of an unidentified young woman who the scientific mission recovery team nicknamed 'Mona Lisa of the Deep.'
This brass name tag and keys for 'SS Central America' purser Edward Hull may have been for a room where Gold Rush treasure cargo was secured on the ship.
This brass name tag and keys for 'SS Central America' purser Edward Hull may have been for a room where Gold Rush treasure cargo was secured on the ship.
One of the important jewellery items recovered from the 'SS Central America' is a large, 18-carat Gold Rush-ore engraved brooch that San Francisco businessman Samuel Brannan was sending to his son in Geneva, Switzerland as a gift to his teacher.
One of the important jewellery items recovered from the 'SS Central America' is a large, 18-carat Gold Rush-ore engraved brooch that San Francisco businessman Samuel Brannan was sending to his son in Geneva, Switzerland as a gift to his teacher.
The 'SS Central America' artefacts provide a glimpse of Gold Rush-era daily life, such as this intriguing, recovered jar of a grooming product described as 'highly perfumed bear’s grease for beautifying and strengthening the hair'.
The 'SS Central America' artefacts provide a glimpse of Gold Rush-era daily life, such as this intriguing, recovered jar of a grooming product described as 'highly perfumed bear’s grease for beautifying and strengthening the hair'.

Weekend

Gold bars to prison bars: US treasure hunter stuck in jail years after salvaging shipwreck

The 'SS Central America' was filled with gold and other treasures when it sank in the Atlantic in 1857

David Millward
Ogunquit, Maine

July 08, 2022

  • English
  • Arabic

As ripping yarns go, it is hard to beat the story of the SS Central America and the fate of its treasure.

Known as the “Ship of Gold”, the 85-metre steamship sank off the coast of North Carolina during a hurricane in September 1857 while sailing from Panama to New York City.

Of the 578 passengers and crew, only 153 survived. The ship's cargo and personal belongings were lost to the Atlantic until its wreck was found in 1988.

Now almost 1,000 items from the wreck have been assembled, catalogued and conserved. More than 900 of them are about to go on public display for the first time across the US.

Some items will then be sold and many others are being donated to museums.

The salvage operation of the SS Central America, which lay 2.1 kilometres below the ocean's surface, was led by Tommy Thompson, an oceanographic engineer.

Using a remotely operated vehicle, he salvaged gold estimated to be worth as much as $150 million and a trove of artefacts painting a vivid picture of life during the Gold Rush of the mid-19th century.

A gold ingot on display at the World's Fair of Money in Boston in 2010. It was among two tonnes of California Gold Rush gold recovered from the shipwreck of the 'SS Central America' which sank in 1857. AP
A gold ingot on display at the World's Fair of Money in Boston in 2010. It was among two tonnes of California Gold Rush gold recovered from the shipwreck of the 'SS Central America' which sank in 1857. AP

But from there, things turned rather complicated, with Mr Thompson becoming mired in litigation with investors who had pumped in millions of dollars for the expedition.

It centred on the gold, in particular 500 coins that were “restructured”.

This entailed melting down the ingots that were found in the wreckage. Having removed the layer containing the historical stampings, the gold was reminted using mid-19th century tools to strike the coins.

It had been sold to a marketing group for $50m, but investors received nothing, with Mr Thompson saying the cash had been swallowed by the cost of the expedition.

Loss of the 'Central America'. The side view of the ship the last time she left the port of New York; passengers on a raft; and scene of the catastrophe after the ship sank. Photo: Library of Congress
Loss of the 'Central America'. The side view of the ship the last time she left the port of New York; passengers on a raft; and scene of the catastrophe after the ship sank. Photo: Library of Congress

At the very least, they wanted the coins. Pursued by investors and insurers, Mr Thompson, 70, went on the run in 2012.

Staying in hotels under an assumed name, he evaded the authorities until he was finally captured and extradited to Ohio.

He was jailed for contempt in 2015 after telling the court that he did not know the location of the gold, which had been put into a Belize trust.

The impasse has left Mr Thompson — a swindler according to his critics and an intrepid explorer and scientist to his supporters — stuck indefinitely in a Michigan jail and on the hook for more than $2m in fines.

He will remain there until he discloses the coins’ whereabouts.

It has become a stand-off between Mr Thompson and Judge Algenon Marbley, says Keith Golden, a lawyer who acted on his behalf.

“Thompson was never a treasure hunter, he is an oceanographer,” Mr Golden told The National.

“The treasure-hunting aspect was a means to the end … essentially the treasure efforts could provide the funding for the development of the deep-sea rescue and exploration."

Mr Golden said investors had been warned they would not get their returns back quickly, but one insisted on getting his money back immediately and they secured a judgment against Mr Thompson.

But Mr Golden said they wanted the value of the gold and the coins for themselves. They were, he said, “double-dipping”.

Mr Thompson carried out four expeditions from 1988 to 1991. Then, after more than two decades, Odyssey Marine Exploration revisited the wreck in March 2014.

“The technology had changed radically,” Bob Evans, the chief scientist to the original missions who also acted as a consultant to Odyssey, told The National.

“The 1988 to 1991 expeditions had Nemo, the robotic submarine, which was cutting edge at the time.

“But the industry became a lot more high-powered and was able to explore far more of the site.”

FILE-This Aug. 29, 1991, file photo shows Tommy Thompson in August 1991, with (seated) chief scientist Bob Evans and Barry Schatz, right, in the control room of the 'Artic Discover'. Mr Thompson found the 'SS Central America' in 1988. AP / The Columbus Dispatch
FILE-This Aug. 29, 1991, file photo shows Tommy Thompson in August 1991, with (seated) chief scientist Bob Evans and Barry Schatz, right, in the control room of the 'Artic Discover'. Mr Thompson found the 'SS Central America' in 1988. AP / The Columbus Dispatch

This has enabled a spectacular potpourri of Gold Rush items to be rescued from the deep, painting a riveting picture of life in mid-19th century America.

“Seemingly ordinary items from the passengers and crew today give us extraordinary insight into the everyday lives of the people who travelled on the steamship,” Mr Evans said.

“They show the kinds of day-to-day clothes that normally ended up in the rag bin after 10 years of wear, such as goldfield miners’ work pants, long underwear — some of them still not worn — as well as the fancier spats and cravats.

“The common, everyday clothes rarely are represented in historic costume collections, which are dominated in the antique category by things like formal gowns and dress uniforms.”

Thousands of recovered gold and silver coins have already been sold and and about 90 items have been shown in “Ship of Gold” exhibitions, from California to New York.

Now the rest of the collection is going on display.

“These incredible artefacts that were in secure storage in three different states now are giving us a glimpse of Gold Rush-era daily life for passengers and crew in the 1850s,” said Dwight Manley, managing partner of the California Gold Marketing Group, which owns the recovered items.

They include the oldest-known Wells Fargo treasure shipment box and a pair of jeans, complete with a fly button, that may have been made by Levi Strauss.

The trousers, insured for $1m, had been packed tightly in a trunk so they were not exposed to elements that could have caused them to rot.

There are three Brooks Brothers shirts, jewellery, and gemstones, including an 18-carat gold brooch owned by Samuel Brannan, a prominent San Francisco businessman and California’s first millionaire.

Among the photographs is a daguerreotype metal plate photograph of an unidentified young woman who has been nicknamed the “Mona Lisa of the Deep”.

It was found in a pile of the ship’s coal.

“The Mona Lisa of the Deep is a half-plate daguerreotype with exceptional depth of field resolution,” said Fred Holabird, whose company is auctioning many of the items.

“It is by far the finest such image of the 1850s era that I’ve seen in my 50 years of working with historic photographs.”

Tour dates for the treasure include: Reno, Nevada from July 28 to 31; Rosemont, Illinois, from August 16 to 20; and Hartford, Connecticut on August 20.

Items of treasure rescued from the wreck of the 'SS Central America'. PA
Items of treasure rescued from the wreck of the 'SS Central America'. PA
Types of policy

Term life insurance: this is the cheapest and most-popular form of life cover. You pay a regular monthly premium for a pre-agreed period, typically anything between five and 25 years, or possibly longer. If you die within that time, the policy will pay a cash lump sum, which is typically tax-free even outside the UAE. If you die after the policy ends, you do not get anything in return. There is no cash-in value at any time. Once you stop paying premiums, cover stops.

Whole-of-life insurance: as its name suggests, this type of life cover is designed to run for the rest of your life. You pay regular monthly premiums and in return, get a guaranteed cash lump sum whenever you die. As a result, premiums are typically much higher than one term life insurance, although they do not usually increase with age. In some cases, you have to keep up premiums for as long as you live, although there may be a cut-off period, say, at age 80 but it can go as high as 95. There are penalties if you don’t last the course and you may get a lot less than you paid in.

Critical illness cover: this pays a cash lump sum if you suffer from a serious illness such as cancer, heart disease or stroke. Some policies cover as many as 50 different illnesses, although cancer triggers by far the most claims. The payout is designed to cover major financial responsibilities such as a mortgage or children’s education fees if you fall ill and are unable to work. It is cost effective to combine it with life insurance, with the policy paying out once if you either die or suffer a serious illness.

Income protection: this pays a replacement income if you fall ill and are unable to continue working. On the best policies, this will continue either until you recover, or reach retirement age. Unlike critical illness cover, policies will typically pay out for stress and musculoskeletal problems such as back trouble.

The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

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If you go

The flights 

Emirates flies from Dubai to Funchal via Lisbon, with a connecting flight with Air Portugal. Economy class returns cost from Dh3,845 return including taxes.

The trip

The WalkMe app can be downloaded from the usual sources. If you don’t fancy doing the trip yourself, then Explore  offers an eight-day levada trails tour from Dh3,050, not including flights.

The hotel

There isn’t another hotel anywhere in Madeira that matches the history and luxury of the Belmond Reid's Palace in Funchal. Doubles from Dh1,400 per night including taxes.

 

 

UAE currency
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Kareem Shaheen on Canada
F1 drivers' standings

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes 281

2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 247

3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes 222

4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull 177

5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 138

6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull 93

7. Sergio Perez, Force India 86

8. Esteban Ocon, Force India 56

Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Rating: 2/5
 
The specs: 2017 GMC Sierra 1500 Denali

Price, base / as tested Dh207,846 / Dh220,000

Engine 6.2L V8

Transmission Eight-speed automatic

Power 420hp @ 5,600rpm

Torque 624Nm @ 4,100rpm

Fuel economy, combined 13.5L / 100km

Profile

Company: Justmop.com

Date started: December 2015

Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan

Sector: Technology and home services

Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai

Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month

Funding:  The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups. 

LILO & STITCH

Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders

Director: Dean Fleischer Camp

Rating: 4.5/5

UAE currency
Red flags
  • Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
  • Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
  • Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
  • Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
  • Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.

Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching

The specs

Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel

Power: 579hp

Torque: 859Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh825,900

On sale: Now

Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Hajj 2019
What the law says

Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.

“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.

“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”

If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.

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On Women's Day

Shooting Ghosts: A U.S. Marine, a Combat Photographer, and Their Journey Back from War by Thomas J. Brennan and Finbarr O’Reilly

How to report a beggar

Abu Dhabi – Call 999 or 8002626 (Aman Service)

Dubai – Call 800243

Sharjah – Call 065632222

Ras Al Khaimah - Call 072053372

Ajman – Call 067401616

Umm Al Quwain – Call 999

Fujairah - Call 092051100 or 092224411

BMW M5 specs

Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor

Power: 727hp

Torque: 1,000Nm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh650,000

While you're here
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Alaan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Parthi%20Duraisamy%20and%20Karun%20Kurien%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%247%20million%20raised%20in%20total%20%E2%80%94%20%242.5%20million%20in%20a%20seed%20round%20and%20%244.5%20million%20in%20a%20pre-series%20A%20round%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The biog

Name: Capt Shadia Khasif

Position: Head of the Criminal Registration Department at Hatta police

Family: Five sons and three daughters

The first female investigator in Hatta.

Role Model: Father

She believes that there is a solution to every problem

 

PRESIDENTS CUP

Draw for Presidents Cup fourball matches on Thursday (Internationals first mention). All times UAE:

02.32am (Thursday): Marc Leishman/Joaquin Niemann v Tiger Woods/Justin Thomas
02.47am (Thursday): Adam Hadwin/Im Sung-jae v Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay
03.02am (Thursday): Adam Scott/An Byeong-hun v Bryson DeChambeau/Tony Finau
03.17am (Thursday): Hideki Matsuyama/CT Pan v Webb Simpson/Patrick Reed
03.32am (Thursday): Abraham Ancer/Louis Oosthuizen v Dustin Johnson/Gary Woodland

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
SPEC SHEET

Display: 10.4-inch IPS LCD, 400 nits, toughened glass

CPU: Unisoc T610; Mali G52 GPU

Memory: 4GB

Storage: 64GB, up to 512GB microSD

Camera: 8MP rear, 5MP front

Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C, 3.5mm audio

Battery: 8200mAh, up to 10 hours video

Platform: Android 11

Audio: Stereo speakers, 2 mics

Durability: IP52

Biometrics: Face unlock

Price: Dh849

While you're here...
While you're here
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203S%20Money%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202018%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20London%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ivan%20Zhiznevsky%2C%20Eugene%20Dugaev%20and%20Andrei%20Dikouchine%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%245.6%20million%20raised%20in%20total%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Transmission: ten-speed

Power: 420bhp

Torque: 624Nm

Price: Dh325,125

On sale: Now

Specs

Engine: 3.0L twin-turbo V6
Gearbox: 10-speed automatic
Power: 405hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 562Nm at 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 11.2L/100km
Price: From Dh292,845 (Reserve); from Dh320,145 (Presidential)
On sale: Now

TOP 5 DRIVERS 2019

1 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 10 wins 387 points

2 Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 4 wins, 314 points

3 Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 3 wins, 260 points

4 Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 2 wins, 249 points

5 Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1 win, 230 points

JAPAN SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Masaaki Higashiguchi, Shuichi Gonda, Daniel Schmidt
Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo, Tomoaki Makino, Maya Yoshida, Sho Sasaki, Hiroki Sakai, Sei Muroya, Genta Miura, Takehiro Tomiyasu
Midfielders: Toshihiro Aoyama, Genki Haraguchi, Gaku Shibasaki, Wataru Endo, Junya Ito, Shoya Nakajima, Takumi Minamino, Hidemasa Morita, Ritsu Doan
Forwards: Yuya Osako, Takuma Asano, Koya Kitagawa

Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
​​​​​​​Penguin Press

Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The studios taking part (so far)
  1. Punch
  2. Vogue Fitness 
  3. Sweat
  4. Bodytree Studio
  5. The Hot House
  6. The Room
  7. Inspire Sports (Ladies Only)
  8. Cryo
SHAITTAN
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The specs

Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8

Transmission: Eight-speed auto

Power: 575bhp

Torque: 700Nm

Price: Dh554,000

On sale: now

THE DETAILS

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Director: Ron Howard

2/5

School uniforms report
Updated: July 08, 2022, 6:00 PM`