Michael Moore What Do Think ?

What do you think, is Micheal Moore being Investigated because of his stance on the Bush Administration and his critical films about it?

The British Trade Dollar ( Coinage And History)

With the extension of British trading interest in the East, especially after the founding of Singapore 1819 and Hong Kong in 1842, it became necessary to produce a special Dollar so as to remove the reliance of a British Colony upon the various foreign coins then in circulation. The two Pictures above are Trade Dollars from my collection both from the reign of Victoria, One is a 1897 B Mint the other is a 1900 B mint

China Trade, Silver Dollars were a direct result of the Opium Wars (1839-1843, 1856-1860), which began when China tried to stop Britain from selling opium to its citizens. The loser, China, had to open up a number of ports to British trade and residence, and cede Hong Kong to Britain. In the decades that followed, merchants and adventurers flocked to these areas, and international trade flourished. Foreign banks were established, and large silver coins from all over the world began arriving to pay for tea, silk, and Chinese porcelain to be shipped abroad. These .900 fine silver trade dollars were then circulated throughout China, where they were readily accepted as a medium of exchange. The British Trade Dollars, minted exclusively for use in the Far East, depict Britannia standing on shore, holding a trident in one hand and balancing a British shield in the other, with a merchant ship under full sail in the background. On the reverse is an arabesque design with the Chinese symbol for longevity in the center, and the denomination in two languages— Chinese and Malay.

The British Trade Dollar was minted from 1895, with the last being produced in 1935. Those with the mint mark "B" were produced at the Bombay mint; others, marked "C", were struck in Calcutta. The mint mark "C" can be found in the ground between the left foot of Britannia and the base of the shield, while the mint mark "B" is located in the centre prong of the trident. The 1921-B dollar was struck but never released for circulation, and only a limited number of 1934-B and 1935-B coins were released. Certain dates are found with a new date being over-struck on another; these include 1897-B over 1896-B, 1900-B over 1894-B, 1901-B over 1900-B, 1909-B over 1908-B, 1904-B over 1898-B, 1903-B over 1902-B, 1908-B over 1903-B, 1904-B over 1903-B, 1929-B over 1901-B, 1908-B over 1907-B, and 1910-B over 1900-B. The British Trade Dollar was demonetized on August 1, 1937.

Shipwreck Treasure Found III

Shipwreck Treasure Found Part II

It looks like the secracy will go one for a bit here is a report for today where they speculate that the shipwreck find was off the coast of Corwall, so now we have two places either off the coast of Flordia or Corwall another interesting thing was the stock for the company clossed out yesterday up by Eighty Percent.


Odyssey Marine Exploration Stock

So all in all this is going to be fun to follow.


Record wreck 'found off Cornwall'

The haul was salvaged using a tethered underwater robot

The haul of coins

A record haul of half a million silver and gold coins from a 17th Century shipwreck may have been found just 40 miles from Land's End, an expert said.
US treasure hunters said the coins, worth an estimated $500m (£253m), were recovered in the Atlantic Ocean.

But Odyssey Marine Exploration, who described it as the largest find of its kind, refused to pinpoint the location.

US coin expert Dr Lane Brunner said there was evidence the shipwreck was lying off the Cornish coast.

Dr Brunner, from the American Numismatic Association, told Five Live there were clues about the location in a statement given to a US federal court in the autumn.

"They told a judge at that point that they had found the wreck of a seventeenth-century merchant ship in the Atlantic Ocean, just outside the English Channel - about 40 miles off Lands' End.


So all we can do is add two and two together
Dr Lane Brunner


"So all we can do is add two and two together. It would seem logical given the timing and everything that could be the site."

In 1641, an English ship called the Merchant Royal sank off the Scilly Islands, laden with bullion from Mexico. There is speculation that this is the wreck salvaged by Odyssey.

'Dazzling specimens'

Odyssey said it had kept the location secret because of security and legal reasons.

"The gold coins are almost all dazzling mint state specimens," Odyssey co-founder Greg Stemm said.

The artefacts, including more than 17 tonnes of silver coins plus a few hundred gold coins, have been shipped to the US and are being examined by experts at an undisclosed location.


The mammoth haul was salvaged using a tethered underwater robot.

Odyssey, which used the code name Black Swan, said it expected the wreck to become one of the "most publicised in history".

It said the site was of huge historical importance because of the insight it would offer into seafaring and the social life of the period when the ship sank.

"Our research suggests that there were a number of colonial period shipwrecks that were lost in the area where this site is located, so we are being very cautious about speculating as to the possible identity of the shipwreck," said John Morris, Odyssey's co-founder.

"We have treated this site with kid gloves and the archaeological work done by our team out there is unsurpassed.

"We are thoroughly documenting and recording the site, which we believe will have immense historical significance," he said.

Odyssey said the coins were recovered in international waters, "beyond the legal jurisdiction of any country", and had been legally imported into the US.

Shipwreck Treasure Found

This is interesting wish they could release more
details about what coins they found or what ship it
might be. I hope the respect the archaeological
aspects of the site as well. It could be very exceptional if it is a
British Ship.


I hope you find it interesting, as I think we will
probably see these coins at some point on the market.


TAMPA, Fla. - Deep-sea explorers said Friday they have
mined what could be the richest shipwreck treasure in
history, bringing home 17 tons of colonial-era silver
and gold coins from an undisclosed site in the
Atlantic Ocean. Estimated value: $500 million.


A jet chartered by Tampa-based Odyssey Marine
Exploration landed in the United States recently with
hundreds of plastic containers brimming with coins
raised from the ocean floor, Odyssey co-chairman Greg
Stemm said. The more than 500,000 pieces are expected
to fetch an average of $1,000 each from collectors and
investors.


"For this colonial era, I think (the find) is
unprecedented," said rare coin expert Nick Bruyer, who
examined a batch of coins from the wreck. "I don't
know of anything equal or comparable to it."


Citing security concerns, the company declined to
release any details about the ship or the wreck site
Friday. Stemm said a formal announcement will come
later, but court records indicate the coins might come
from a 400-year-old ship found off England.


Because the shipwreck was found in a lane where many
colonial-era vessels went down, there is still some
uncertainty about its nationality, size and age, Stemm
said, although evidence points to a specific known
shipwreck. The site is beyond the territorial waters
or legal jurisdiction of any country, he said.


"Rather than a shout of glee, it's more being able to
exhale for the first time in a long time," Stemm said
of the haul, by far the biggest in Odyssey's 13-year
history.


He wouldn't say if the loot was taken from the same
wreck site near the English Channel that Odyssey
recently petitioned a federal court for permission to
salvage.


In seeking exclusive rights to that site, an Odyssey
attorney told a federal judge last fall that the
company likely had found the remains of a 17th-century
merchant vessel that sank with valuable cargo aboard,
about 40 miles off the southwestern tip of England. A
judge signed an order granting those rights last
month.


In keeping with the secretive nature of the project
dubbed "Black Swan," Odyssey also isn't talking yet
about the types, denominations and country of origin
of the coins.


Bruyer said he observed a wide range of varieties and
dates of likely uncirculated currency in much better
condition than artifacts yielded by most shipwrecks of
a similar age.


The Black Swan coins - mostly silver pieces - likely
will fetch several hundred dollars to several thousand
dollars each, with some possibly commanding much more,
he said. Value is determined by rarity, condition and
the story behind them.


Controlled release of the coins into the market along
with their expected high value to collectors likely
will keep prices at a premium, he said.


The richest ever shipwreck haul was yielded by the
Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha, which sank
in a hurricane off the Florida Keys in 1622.
Treasure-hunting pioneer Mel Fisher found it in 1985,
retrieving a reported $400 million in coins and other
loot.


Odyssey likely will return to the same spot for more
coins and artifacts.


"We have treated this site with kid gloves and the
archaeological work done by our team out there is
unsurpassed," Odyssey CEO John Morris said. "We are
thoroughly documenting and recording the site, which
we believe will have immense historical significance."


The news is timely for Odyssey, the only publicly
traded company of its kind.


The company salvaged more than 50,000 coins and other
artifacts from the wreck of the SS Republic off
Savannah, Ga., in 2003, making millions. But Odyssey
posted losses in 2005 and 2006 while using its
expensive, state-of-the-art ships and deep-water
robotic equipment to hunt for the next mother lode.


"The outside world now understands that what we do is
a real business and is repeatable and not just a lucky
one shot deal," Stemm said. "I don't know of anybody
else who has hit more than one economically
significant shipwreck."


In January, Odyssey won permission from the Spanish
government to resume a suspended search for the wreck
of the HMS Sussex, which was leading a British fleet
into the Mediterranean Sea for a war against France in
1694 when it sank in a storm off Gibraltar.


Historians believe the 157-foot warship was carrying
nine tons of gold coins to buy the loyalty of the Duke
of Savoy, a potential ally in southeastern France.
Odyssey believes those coins could also fetch more
than $500 million.


But under the terms of a historic agreement Odyssey
will have to share any finds with the British
government. The company will get 80 percent of the
first $45 million and about 50 percent of the proceeds
thereafter.