SS Central America

  1. How to identify a shipwreck coin

    How to identify a shipwreck coin

    Be careful trying to buy coins that are supposed to be from a famous shipwreck. How to identify a shipwreck coin should be left to the experts. It is hard to determine if a coin is a shipwreck coin just by looking at it. How is the average person supposed to know if a coin was hidden in a shipwreck for over a hundreds of years? Even if a coin is actually from a shipwreck it could be in terrible condition and not worth very much. However, those salvaged in good to excellent condition can be worth a lot of money. Especially, if they are a from a rare date and only a few surviving coins actually exist.

    Austin Rare Coins & Bullion is one of the premier shipwreck coin dealers in the United States. They know how to identify a shipwreck coin. In fact, they specialize in high-end shipwreck coins dating back to 1845. Above all, they only deal in shipwreck coins certified and authenticated by NGC

    Read more »
  2. Who owns the gold from the S.S. Central America?

    Who owns the gold from the S.S. Central America?

    There is no easy answer regarding who owns the gold from the S.S. Central America. The S.S. Central America, also know as the “Ship of Gold,” sank in a hurricane off the cost of the Carolinas with tons of gold from the San Francisco mint. In addition, there were gold coins, ingots, gold dust, and various bullion coins from the California Gold Rush that went down with the ship. In fact, the enormous loss of gold has been described as the greatest economic catastrophe in all of U.S. maritime history.

     

    I took over a 150 years to find the Ship of Gold sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. The ship was located by the Columbus-America Discovery Group of Ohio, led by Tommy Gre

    Read more »
  3. Can I buy gold ingots?

    Can I buy gold ingots?

    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 ref

    Read more »
  4. Gold Coins from the 1857 Ship of Gold

    Gold Coins from the 1857 Ship of Gold
    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
    Read more »