Divers found 14 gold coins and 24 silver coins in a spot "no bigger than a cigar box." All predate the ship's sinking and include one British coin that experts say could be worth $100,000. Othergold coins in the collection are valued in the $10,000 to $12,000 range, officials said.

James Sinclair, a marine archaeologist involved in project, says finding gold coins proves the team is in the right spot.

"This evidence supports reports that valuables, including gold and silver, were aboard the Pulaski when she sank," Sinclair said in a statement.

Those involved in the project have one particular passenger in mind: Charles Ridge, a man who survived but lost $20,000 in the disaster, all of it in gold coins.

The coins were uncovered as part of joint project by Blue Water Ventures International and Endurance Exploration Group, two publicly traded companies that expect to find a treasure trove ofvaluables brought aboard the doomed luxury ship by wealthy passengers.

Keith Webb of Blue Water Ventures said in an interview Friday the 14 gold coins are not Ridge's fortune.

"When we find his money, it won't be the size of a cigar box. It will be the size of a chest," said Webb. "We will find it, I assure you, and it will be in one pile. And that will be gold coinswith a specific history attached - an actual story of a man whose riches are lost and a woman still committed to marry him.... It's romantic. It's exciting."

Webb predicts they'll find thousands of coins that could be worth millions. So far, he says they've found 70 U.S., Spanish and Mexican coins during a half dozen visits.

To read the complete article, see:
Divers find a stash of rare gold coins at the site of 1800s shipwreck off NC coast(http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article196911119.html)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NORTH CAROLINA COAST WRECK MAY BE THE PULASKI (http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n03a26.html)