5. The Project Black Swan
Estimated Current Value: $704.86 million* Disappeared Year: 1804
Year Found: 2007.
The Odyssey Marine Exploration team’s 2000s search and recovery operation was known as the “Black Swan Project.” From the ocean floor, the team retrieved gold and silver coins valued at well over $700 million. Odyssey withheld the discovery from the public until they attempted to relocate the coins in 2007. The coins were formerly owned by the Spanish frigate Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, which the British sank in 1804.
Pinterest/Black Swan Project: @english.elpais.com
After a protracted trial, the court ordered the coins to be transferred to Spain, where the treasure is currently kept at a museum in Cartagena. The Spanish government had sued Odyssey. In addition, the exploratory team was ordered by the court to reimburse $1 million for “bad faith” and “abusive litigation.”
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