A Brief History
On September 23, 1641, off the coast of Cornwall, England, a British merchant ship named the Merchant Royal sank with her cargo of Spanish treasure. She has not yet been found, and your treasure possibly awaits you somewhere at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean, southwest of England.
Digging Deeper
If lost treasure interests you, then pay attention!
The Merchant Royal, despite being leaky and somewhat weary after long travels, had been contracted to transport gold and silver from Cadiz, Spain, to Antwerp in modern-day Belgium (which at that time was part of the Spanish Netherlands), to pay the Spanish garrison that was stationed there. On the way to Antwerp, the pumps that had been controlling the leaks broke down, and the ship began to sink. The captain and 40 men of the crew of 58 were rescued by another British ship, the Dover Merchant. No reports of saving any part of the treasure were ever made or implied. The stunningly large treasure included 100,000 pounds of gold (!), 400 silver bars and almost 500,000 coins (“pieces of eight” and the like). In today’s dollars, the treasure is worth somewhat over a billion dollars.
In 2007 the Odyssey Marine Exploration Company, a treasure-hunting salvage company, began exploring an unidentified ship at first believed to be the Merchant Royal but later deemed to probably be a Spanish vessel. The operation is known as “The Black Swan Project” and is detailed in the History and Headlines article “10 Spectacular Discoveries of Treasures.”
So for now, the treasure of the Merchant Royal still awaits either you or some other intrepid treasure hunter, safely guarded by the depths of the ocean. Some people’s dreams of discovering treasure have come true. Why should yours not?
Question for students (and subscribers): How do you hope to find your treasure? On the stock market? With a metal detector in the park? Let us know how you hope to hit it rich. Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Haughton, Brian. Ancient Treasures: The Discovery of Lost Hoards, Sunken Ships, Buried Vaults, and Other Long-Forgotten Artifacts. New Page Books, 2013.
Horner, Dave. Shipwreck: A Saga of Sea Tragedy and Sunken Treasure. Sheridan House, 1999.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="5227 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=5227">130 Comments
Couldn’t imagine what I would do with that amount of lost treasure.
That money would most certainly pay my college tuition.
Hard to believe none of the huge treasure was not brought onto the rescue ship. Maybe it was? Are there still currently people searching for this lost treasure or is it a lost cause?
How do I get a job at the Odyssey Marine Exploration Company?
Since I am sure that it is a walk in the park to find the treasure, I would be glad to hit it rich by finding nearly $1 billion worth of treasure at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. I cannot even imagine the amount of items (not to mention the quality of the items) it would take to come to that total. All I can say is that if someone were to actually find it, they are pretty lucky. That is, until someone stakes a claim for it, which is more than likely what would happen!
It confuses me how so much money and treasures could just sink with the ship and not have at least some of it in the rescue boats. The amount of treasure must be tremendous if it were to be equal to around a billion dollars. If I were to magically find some great amount of money, it would go towards paying off college and helping support my family.
I found it very interesting that they set fire to their own ships and use up England’s resources in order to burn the Spanish ships. I feel that now, there would be no war that one side would sacrifice anything else besides a human life.
I’m surprised that no one has found the ship yet. Depending on where one puts value, we are all rich in some way.
With all that money I could pay off my loans
But only barely
How do we know that someone hasn’t already found the treasure and/or ship many years ago and never said anything? Hmm. lol.
Also, I agree with A.T.- I would pay off my student loans and put the rest back in savings. I would only take out what I need to live comfortably and then donate it if I were to pass away. Of course I would splurge here and there. 😉
although nice, money isn’t that important to me. Or i should say that having a surplus of it isn’t. I would just like to have enough money be live comfortably. If for some reason I do come into a load of money, it wouldn’t change a thing about my life, other than getting myself a new car, and paying off my student loans lol.
I do not need money to feel rich… I have two beautiful kids that allow me to feel rich every single day! — DAVID WARDLE
To bad i dont even have the money to buy a boat and equipment to go find this treasure. However i have plans to become wealthy myself i think people just have to learn to make money work for them. As far as this treasure i think that its not there. If u ask me they meant for the ship to sink so they could say they lost the treasure. However i think they took it for themselves.
I can’t believe the ammount of ocean floor that remains untouched by the exploration of humankind!
Although that money would be nice to have, I have everything I need right now and working hard to have great future and it will be more rewarding when I achieve my dreams because I worked for it and didn’t just get it handed to me.
I am going to invent a device, that will allow ramen noodles to be cooked instantly. No more waiting 3 lousy minutes for your noodles. It will be three easy payments of 710.96 dollars.
I am sure some of the treasure found its way onto the Dover Merchant
That’s amazing I’m jealous , I should just do what they do !
Treasure hunters fascinate me. That’s serious dedication with, sometimes, an amazing reward!
Whoever finds that treasure is going to be one happy person. You could do so much with a billion dollars !
I can’t believe know one has found the treasure yet!!
Its unbelievable that with modern technology and knowing that it’s still out there, nobody has been able to find it.
although the crash was hundreds of years ago you would think some by now would have at least found part of the treasure.
“somewhere at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean, southwest of England.”
Someone get Robert Ballard on the phone, stat!
With the value at over a billion dollars, there’s got to be tons of people looking for that treasure. I know the ocean is huge, but it’s kind of odd that nobody has found it yet; especially with all of the technology (sonar, dive equipment) that we have access to today.
N.W.
It seems unlikely that this treasure exists since anyone has yet to discover it. If the treasure is as valuable as is said, then there has to be a way to discover it after all this time with the use of modern technology.
HD
I feel like they say it’s down there but is it really? If someone really went crazy and found that would be cool. That’s a lot of money to be at the bottom of an ocean.
AM
I’m gonna need a snorkel.
SS
I do not want to say the treasure does not exist, because there is always a chance. Though, seeing that no one has found it yet, I find it interesting. Though, who knows people are still just finding the middle missing piece of the Titanic. So there is always a chance that the treasure could be real, but no one has found it yet. The value though is so high, I feel as though someone (if it does exist), will find it at some point.
The amount of money in coins that they had accumulated over the findings is quite intreging. Makes me want to quit school and go do treasure hunts. Not really. But still i believe this is not the only riches that could be found in the world.
I have a fear of drowning so I would never dare to go to the bottom of the Atlantic! Even if it was for a billion dollars! I plan to make my money through my career in the future.
I’m surprised that nobody has found this treasure! I’d like to think that with the technology today somebody could detect the location of it. But then again, technology is another world to me, so what do I know? I think I’ll stick to walking around on the beach with a metal detector; deep open water is not my thing.
After reading this article I have decided to switch my major to whatever helps me find this treasure! (just kidding) It is almost unfathomable to believe no one has found this treasure with the technology and greed in today’s society.
With all the advances we’ve made in technology, it’s a miracle that no one has found the treasure yet. Perhaps it’s waiting for me to discover, but for now I think I’ll stick to good, old-fashioned, hard work to make my living.
I’m not sure what lost treasure has to do with the settlement of North America. GW
Finding lost treasure would be awesome, I would love to see the lost remains of this ship and it’s content. Maybe Nicolas Cage would come help me out, he seems to know where all the treasure is.
I am surprised that with all of the current technology, remains have not been located. Looks like my next purchase will be a scuba suit.
It is very interesting that it has yet to be found. Someone is in store for a great surprise! It is surprising to me that even though people saw where the ship sank and people survived the wreck, they still have not found it, or chose not to save the treasures aboard the ship.
I would have thought that someone would have went after the treasure by now. If I knew how to treasure hunt I would, but unfortunately I don’t
I find it crazy how a treasure stash like that has not been found yet. With the almost billion dollars in treasure just sitting in the middle of the ocean, you would think there would be a larger motion to attempt to find it.
Although there is a great amount of treasure and some have no doubt tried to find it, it is on the bottom of the ocean. Also, it is no doubt buried underneath marine life and sand, therefore making it harder to find.
It’s crazy that all that money is lost at sea!
They sheer amount of money lost at sea is kind of insane just sitting somewhere in the ocean
Hopefully one day that treasure is found. Not just for the value of what’s in side from a monetary standpoint, but from a historical standpoint.
They took a very big risk using a ship that had known leaks, even after patching/repairing the leaky areas seems rather a poor decision. Supposedly, we know more about certain elements in space rather than the exploration of our own ocean.
I think it is strange that they wouldn’t save the treasure. It would be nice to find the treasure and put in a savings account.
I am surprised that they would not save the treasure. i would keep it and buy my dream car.
With that much treasure out there somewhere I’m surprised
more people aren’t out there looking for it.
I was under the impression that a true ship captain was suppose to go down with his ship? I’m surprised that no one has found this treasure yet and that it’s not more commonly known.
It was never reported that the treasure left the ship, but that much money in one place and enough to pass around would be a good incentive to keep your mouth shut. Conspiracy theory?
I think 1 of the 18 people that didn’t survive the wreck was carrying the treasure that had money in it.Than later on the money the treasure was found.
Maybe it has already been found and the people just did not say anything. I know for darn sure if I had found that much I wouldn’t tell a single soul.
I bet there are many people out there searching for this treasure that many don’t even know exist. But I know if i had it, i wouldn’t tell anyone.
I wonder what the treasure would be worth in this day. It is possible someone found it and told no one
It would be pretty awesome to find the ship and get credit for something like this.
Bad planning on the captains part it sounds like
Good to know its still there waiting for me.
It’s crazy to think that treasure that was lost so long ago is still out there somewhere.
If only I had some of this money. Inflation of the dollar is insane. A dollar is worth nothing now an days.
Hard to imagine nothing was ever found!
Knowing that treasure is still out there is incredible. All those years ago and it still has never been found.
THAT’S A LOT OF MONEY. It’s like someone today won the powerball, and just loses their ticket.
that scenario is like winning a lambo, free house, and tickets to exotic islands…. then your house burns down that you never saw, your car runs off a cliff, and you lose all your tickets. sounds tragic lol.
This sounds awful Id probably go to a deep depression
I would love to find that ship and all of its treasures!
That is obviously a ton of money, I wonder how much it effected the respective countries economies.
I can’t believe that much money still hasn’t been found, makes me want to go look for it!
I am surprised that this ship has not been found yet, especially since it is known to be worth over a billion dollars!
It is surprising that they have not found the treasure yet! I am sure whoever was blamed for this was punished severely.
It is hard to believe a treasure that big has not been found yet. I wonder how they paid the Spanish garrison after the wreck. Or if they were ever able to pay what they owed. I don’t believe they could have a second treasure that valuable.
I’m sure there are people out there going crazy over trying to find this treasure.
Hundreds of years and the treasure is still on the bottom of the ocean.. One billion dollars still unfound waiting in the sea. Any takers on a spring break trip to the Atlantic ocean, southwest of England?
I feel like if they haven’t found it by now, something probably happened to it. How do we really know if the treasure wasn’t taken or traded in a secret deal? Anything is possible. If it is out there, though, then someone is going to be very rich.
This story is a good analogy to the lifetime people spend trying to find their treasure (sometimes money, sometimes other treasures). Is that not what history is or always seems to lead though? There is always a search for something, and we do not always know what we are looking for.
I wonder if there have been other expeditions that went in search of this bountiful treasure and have failed. The amount of money that could be recovered if you find this ship is great and I would think that anyone in the business of doing these types of expeditions would be trying to find the Merchant Royal, I know I would be.
This story is one of mystery. I wonder if any of the crew brought some of the treasure with them while being rescued. Perhaps the crew escaped with a large sum of money but did not tell anyone that they took it. Also, with the modern technology that is available today, I am surprised no one has yet found the lost treasure in the Atlantic Ocean.
Sunken treasure is intriguing and hopefully one day some kicker diver will find the Merchant’s lost treasure. I wonder if it were found, would the person who found it even say anything? And if you did find this treasure how would you cash it in? You certainly can’t take 300 year old gold coins to the bank. I also wonder if the escaped sailers on the Merchant kept some of the treasure for themselves and managed to hide it. If so, maybe there is no leftover treasure from the Merchant after all? Only time will tell I guess.
What a great moment in history will it be when someone finally finds this ship! With today’s technology and the things that mankind has achieved, however, I am kind of surprised that there have been absolutely no signs of the ship until today. It’s value should have intrigued more people to look deeper for it…
I think it’s unlikely that this treasure will ever be recovered. When that plane went down in the Indian Ocean in 2014, it took the recovery team over 2 years to locate it, with all kinds of modern technology and the full backing of the navy. This was a ship that went down in an imprecise location, and has since had almost 400 years of currents and tides to conceal it further. Still, it would be an amazing find after all these years, and would make someone very rich!
Why would such a leaky and worn out ship like the Merchant Royal be selected to transport treasures in the first place? How could no one anticipate a leaky ship to sink! I am surprised that technology has not found a way to locate this ship. Either way, it’ll be interesting to see if the ship and the treasures are ever discovered.
It seems that this ship was not truly meant to have on bored such precious cargo unless someone intended for it to sink. Other than the intent to have the treasures lost for good, it does not make sense why someone would approve of this. The Merchant Royal will most likely be one of those unsolved cases and only the ocean will be able to hold onto its treasures.
I say we take a class field trip to England, you know, for educational purposes. I find it incredible how no one has managed to find it yet. We manage to find other wrecks in some of the deepest parts of the ocean, but we can’t manage to uncover this one. Whenever I hear stories of past shipwrecks like this where a single ship carries a fortune of wealth, I can’t help but think why they insist on putting so much wealth on a single ship. Spread it out over a few ships, so if one goes down you don’t lose all of it. A billion dollars worth on a single, wooden ship that was already leaking…someone wasn’t thinking that through.
Over a billion dollars… How has no one found it is my question? This makes me want to devote my life now to find this ship with all this gold and money.
I love that things like this are still a mystery. The fact that there are modern-day treasure hunters makes for a good movie. If you are interested in one, I recommend watching Black Sea.
It is amazing to me that after all these years that treasure is still out there somewhere. Who ever is the one to uncover this treasure will be an extremely lucky person. I cannot believe that no one has been able to find it yet. I do not understand why a run down ship like this one would be chosen to carry such a large amount of treasure.
It is interesting to me that a ship so leaky and worn would be chosen to carry a treasure this huge. I am surprised the treasure has not been found after all this time. Whoever was in charge of this ship must have been in great trouble to have lost such a huge treasure.
Some of these stories sound like a little kid made them up. Who in there right mind would put that amount of money on a ship that had already been known it had problems.
Who wants to go searching with me?! This is so crazy to think about that there is so much awaiting to be found by someone at the bottom of a body of water.
Do not put your eggs in one basket, or should I say, do not put 100,000 lbs. of gold on one wooden ship.
Worth billions of dollars? that is crazy! I might have to grab my dive gear and hit the water.
I am not sure why anyone would trust one boat with all that money. I would split it up into different voyages so if something bad happens only a share of the money is lost.
If someone else finds the treasure, will they even get to keep it? I can see Spain and the UK each trying to claim the treasure as their own. Then Gibraltar will not be the only conflict between those two!
That’s a lot of money to be found. Now I can see why there’s so many treasure hunting shows on tv. Who ever finds it would be rich for life!
Wouldn’t you think someone may have found all of this treasure by now? There has got to be someone out there who is dying to solve this mystery and find the treasure.
You would think with all that money and historical value someone would have invested a lot of money to find that ship. One day we might find it we just have to wait and see.
Good read
Get me my parakeet, and sword. We’re going treasure hunting. I can even fathom finding that.. it would be like what every kid thinks up in his imagination.
^ can’t even fathom.
my bad
Reading articles such as this one does make you wonder exactly how much treasure has been lost to the seas. While the idea of going out into the sea to hunt for treasure is tempting, I think that I am content to wait and see if anyone else finds the treasure.
If I could find that treasure so many problems could be solved, but, to find that treasure you first have to acquire certain things like a submarine which in its self has to be at least a billion dollars.
Realistically, I would love to make it rich in the stock market. I often do dream of what it would be like to be walking along a beach and coming across something with a metal detector. Another way, which is my dads dream, is to be remodeling a house and find stacks of money behind the walls that previous owners stored.
The cost of equipment to find the treasure would be the same amount of the treasure itself.
Yeah, but the expenses are tax deductible. And, you can write a cool book about your adventures, maybe even a television documentary!
HAHAHA HE SAID PAY OFF HIS LOANS!!! I could use some of that loot. You would have to be dedicated to find that but, over a billion dollars is worth a try to find it, so if i don’t comment on the rest of the post I’ve been looking for treasure and buying scuba gear.
That is what I’m saying, I’d be paying off my loans ad leaving this state. I would have to look further into this but i do not know if the journey would be worth it.
I don’t even know what I would do with all of that money. I definitely wouldn’t be eating ramen noodles every night though.
I think the way I would expect to get rich is by saving my money haha. I just think taking care of ones money is the key to a successful economic life.
My dream scenario or “treasure” would be to win the lottery or get rich off of investments in the stock market. Treasure hunting may be just as hard to do as my dream scenarios, so I’ll stick to those two for now.
All i want is to save money and pay off loans haha
I would look for the treasure if it didn’t cost so much searching for it. I think I would rather save my money instead.
I guess I need to go searching in the Atlantic Ocean for that money ASAP haha.
I’m shocked nobody has found this treasure yet! Being worth so much i’d figure everybody in the treasure hunting business would be out surveying the suspected areas of its crash.
I wonder why more people haven’t been searching for this treasure. Surely the Spanish government would love to have their treasure back.
Hard to believe nobody has found that ship yet.
All that money sounds so delightful right about now!!
WOW! that would be the coolest find ever! in 2004 i was in Iraq. i remember they screwed up our pay once….. i wonder if those guys in Belgium felt the way we did when we got the news?
Whoever finds that treasure is going to be one lucky person.
I need to find this money
I need to go on an adventure to find this! I need a partner to go with. We’ll probably split the treasure.
i would love to have all that money!
Class field trip?
This sounds similar tothe story of Atlantis, except not a lost city, but a lost ship with treasure! Even if I go try to find it, I’ll be spending money to travel, get equipment, gather a small team, and so on, which means some of the funds would go towards the actual expedition. Even if the treausre was not found, it would be worth the adventure and experience!
Finding that would be crazy! I want to find my treasure in between the walls of somewhere or hidden somewhere spooky.
They lost over 100000 pounds worth of gold, 400 silver bars, and 500000 coins.
That is a quite a lot of money that is still lost.. Over one billion dollars somewhere in the ocean is ridiculous to even think about! I wonder what country would step in and try to do something if someone ever found all that money.
I’ll see you guys there, being a millennial in this world ain’t cheap.
Lol ya changing my major to whatever I need to so I can look for this boat
It is weird to think about the fact there is billions of dollars just hanging out in the ocean.
Someone get me a ship, I’m sailing out of here! Who needs college when you’ve got that much money