Lawyer for Ex-Treasure Hunter Says Client Seriously Ill

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Lawyer for Ex-Treasure Hunter Says Client Seriously Ill - by Andrew Welsh-Huggins/ AP Legal Affairs Writer/ ABC News/ abcnews.go.com

"A former deep-sea treasure hunter says he's too ill to explain to a federal judge why he shouldn't face new penalties for failing to answer questions about 500 missing gold coins...

... Thompson has been accused of cheating investors since he discovered the S.S. America, known as the Ship of Gold, in 1988. The gold rush-era ship sank in a hurricane off South Carolina in 1857 with thousands of pounds of gold aboard, contributing to an economic panic.

The 161 investors who paid Thompson $12.7 million to find the ship never saw any proceeds. Two sued — a now-deceased investment firm president and the company that once published The Columbus Dispatch newspaper..."

I recently finished reading " Ship of Gold in th Deep Blue Sea" by Gary Kinder.
An excellent account of the last voyage of the S.S. America and her sinking in a hurricane. The story then transitions to the tale of the search for the ship and its gold and what a yarn it is. Very exciting. I definitely recommend the book.

I had no idea the investors in the project were never paid until I saw an article in today's paper (12/15) about Tommy Thompson remaining mum about the missing coins.


Richard

 

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Ex-Treasure Hunter to Stay in Jail Until Questions Answered - by Andrew Welsh-Huggins/ Associated Press/ The Big Story/ bigstory.ap.org

"COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered a former deep-sea treasure hunter to stay in jail until he answers questions about the location of 500 gold coins recovered from an historic shipwreck.

Judge Algenon Marbley also ordered Tommy Thompson to pay a $1,000 daily fine until he agrees to cooperate by answering those questions.

Marbley's ruling capped a long afternoon in court in Ohio for Thompson during which he also received a two-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine for failing to appear before a judge three years ago to answer similar questions.

The sentence — including credit for nearly a year already spent behind bars — will be delayed until the issue of the gold coins is resolved..."

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Delaware County Sheriffs Office shows Tommy Thompson. Thompson, a former deep-sea treasure hunter must explain why he shouldn’t face new penalties for failing to answer questions about 500 missing gold coins, a federal judge ruled Monday, Dec. 14, 2015. An attorney for Tommy Thompson said in a Monday court hearing he wasn’t going to answer questions about the coins as required by a plea deal. (Delaware County Sheriffs Office via AP, File)


Richard

 

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Ex-Treasure Hunter Ordered to Answer Missing Coins Questions
By Andrew Welsh-Huggins/ Associated Press/ News/ The Washington Times/ washingtontimes.com

"COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A federal judge on Monday ordered a former deep-sea treasure hunter to answer questions about the location of 500 missing gold coins.

Tommy Thompson has been held in contempt of court since last December, when Judge Algenon Marbley in Columbus found he violated a plea deal by refusing to respond.

Marbley on Monday told Thompson to answer the questions within 30 days.

The judge’s order came after Thompson and his attorneys spent the past month at Marbley’s direction reviewing documents that might hold clues about the location of the coins and other assets worth millions...."

For those interested in this story - see Gary Kinder's Book: " Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea: The History and Discovery of the World's Richest Shipwreck"

Here's a synopsis: "Ship of Gold tells the story of the sinking of the SS Central America, a side-wheel steamer carrying nearly six hundred passengers returning from the California Gold Rush, two hundred miles off the Carolina coast in September 1857. Over four hundred lives and twenty-one tons of California gold were lost. It was the worst peacetime disaster at sea in American history, a tragedy that remained lost in legend for over a century. In the 1980s, a young engineer from Ohio set out to do what no one, not even the United States Navy, had been able to do: establish a working presence on the deep-ocean floor and open it to science, archaeology, history, medicine, and recovery. The SS Central America became the target of his project. After years of intensive efforts, Tommy Thompson and the Columbus-America Discovery Group found the SS Central America in eight thousand feet of water, and in October 1989 they sailed into Norfolk with her recovered treasure: gold coins, bars, nuggets, and dust, plus steamer trunks filled with period clothes, newspapers, books, and journals. Gary Kinder tells this extraordinary tale of history, human drama, heroic rescue, scientific ingenuity, and individual courage..."


Richard

 

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US Treasure Hunter in Trouble for Living the Pirate's Life
By Associated Press/ News/ World/ 9News/ 9news.com.au

"A treasure hunter has taken back a pledge to turn over 500 missing coins minted from gold found in a shipwreck off the South Carolina coast.

The civil trial against Tommy Thompson was put on hold last week when a proposed settlement was reached to deliver the coins to a court-appointed receiver.

However, the deal over the treasure found in the 1857 shipwreck fell apart when the 66-year-old said he had no idea how to obtain the coins.

A Franklin County Commons magistrate had to instruct Thompson, a former scientist, on numerous occasions to answer directly as he testified before the court.

The former scientist claimed a stranger who he couldn’t identify, met him in Fort Lauderdale in 2010 and took the coins but he couldn’t remember the details of the exchange.

He suggested the coins may have been deposited into a trust Thompson had set up in Belize to “keep them safe,” however he can’t be certain.

Thompson also argued that the trust likely holding the coins would not respond to inquiries because of the ongoing legal proceedings over the treasure.

Thompson found the S.S. Central America in 1988 after convincing more than 100 investors to fund the voyage for nearly $A18 million.

Thompson never repaid the investors and never produced the treasure....."

Thompson discovered the S.S Central America after being funded by over 100 investors. (AP)


Richard

 

[Quiet Pine]

My great-great-grandfather was on that ship. Billings Hood Ridley was helped by another survivor and the two were rescued by the crew of the Elllen and became close friends. Billings returned to his home in Maine and married the fiancee who had waited 5 years while he was in California during the Gold Rush.

 

[WalnutBaron]

Ship Of Gold In The Deep Blue Sea is one of my favorite books of all time. It is suspenseful, deeply-researched, tightly-written, and rewarding. Throughout, you find yourself rooting hard for Tommy Thompson. It's a shame (though, perhaps, not surprising) that greed overtook Thompson. His investors backed him in a high-risk venture and Thompson should remain in jail until he coughs up the gold coins. What I find interesting about this is that several years ago, I saw advertisements offering the public the chance to purchase the coins at rather exorbitant prices. I wonder if that was also a scam.

Regardless of Thompson's checkered history, I agree with Richard: the book is well worth your time.

 

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Treasure hunter marks five years in jail for refusing to give up his gold.

Treasure hunter marks five years in jail for refusing to give up his gold

Research scientist Tommy Thompson has for years refused to tell the location of 500 missing coins found in a historic shipwreck

www.theguardian.com

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Richard

 

[pedro47]

What is the market values of these 500 gold coins and it sound liked there are more than just gold coins on this sunken ship?

 

[kanerf]

So now it will be a treasure for someone else to find.

 

[tombanjo]

They have been busy recovering gold since he has been in jail. A new company formed, and have recovered not quite tons of stuff.

The History of the S.S. Central America

A few minutes past 8pm a tremendous wave hit the S.S. Central America and, with hundreds of men huddled at the front of the ship and Captain Herndon on the starboard paddle-box, she slipped beneath the waves with millions in gold coin & treasure on board.

www.pcgs.com

 

[Quiet Pine]

Pricey pants from 1857 go for $114k, raise Levi's questions​

Pulled from a sunken trunk at an 1857 shipwreck off the coast of North Carolina, work pants that auction officials describe as the oldest known pair of jeans in the world have sold for $114,000

Pricey pants from 1857 go for $114k, raise Levi's questions

Pulled from a sunken trunk at an 1857 shipwreck off the coast of North Carolina, work pants that auction officials describe as the oldest known pair of jeans in the world have sold for $114,000

abcnews.go.com

 

[Brett]

Pricey pants from 1857 go for $114k, raise Levi's questions​

Pulled from a sunken trunk at an 1857 shipwreck off the coast of North Carolina, work pants that auction officials describe as the oldest known pair of jeans in the world have sold for $114,000

Pricey pants from 1857 go for $114k, raise Levi's questions

Pulled from a sunken trunk at an 1857 shipwreck off the coast of North Carolina, work pants that auction officials describe as the oldest known pair of jeans in the world have sold for $114,000

abcnews.go.com

my old jeans would sell for .... $.000

 

[Talent312]

Note to Ex-Treasure Hunter, Tommy Thompson:
If you need somewhere to stash them, I have a large yard.
.