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23.09.

1641: Ship Carrying Treasure Worth Two Billion Dollars Sinks (Merchant Royal)

1641: Ship Carrying Treasure Worth Two Billion Dollars Sinks (Merchant Royal)
Photo Credit To Wikipedia Commons

Story Highlights

  • Historical event:
  • 23 September 1641
  • The ship was sunk near Land's End, which is the most westerly point of England. The wreck has not been found, nor has the treasure, worth two billion dollars.

On this day in 1641, a ship which carried an interesting treasure sank.



This great treasure is still waiting to be discovered. It was the British ship named Merchant Royal. The weather was very bad, and the ship sank near the south coast of England.

The ship carried an incredible treasure: more than 37,000 pounds of gold, about 500,000 pieces of silver, and about 400 Mexican silver coins. Compared to today’s prices, the mentioned 37,000 kilograms of gold alone could be worth nearly two billion dollar, not counting the silver.

The ship was sunk near Land’s End, which is the most westerly point of England.  Land’s End is a holiday complex in Cornwall. The ship was sailing from the Spanish port of Cadiz to Antwerp, carrying a reward for the soldiers who were fighting there for Spain.

It was quite damaged and was leaking water. The pumps stopped working, and the weather was very bad. The ship began to sink.  18 people died, while 40 were rescued. Of course, gold was too heavy, and remained in the ship.




Odyssey Marine Exploration company organized an operation in 2007, its goal to find the treasure. They haven’t found the wreck of the Merchant Royal, but removed the treasure from the Spanish ship Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes (Our Lady of Mercy), worth about 500 million dollars.

The great treasure of the Merchant Royal is still waiting to be discovered.

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