A 180-year-old shipwreck popular with scuba divers is proving to be a trove of rare coins and artifacts for a salvage project launched 20 miles off the South Carolinacoast.

Known to divers as "The Copper Pot," the wreck is actually the Steamship North Carolina, which collided with another boat in 1840 with hundreds of gold coins stuffed inpassenger's steamer trunks.

The first of the newly found coins -- "several" $5 gold pieces dating from the mid-1830s -- were brought up in late September, along with 19th Century dinnerware and marble,according to Blue Water Ventures International based in Florida.

"I can't believe what we're finding," Keith Webb, president of Blue Water Ventures, told McClatchy news group. "The coins look almost as if they were just minted and it'sblowing our minds. It's because they were hidden by a large piece of copper and were not moved around in the sand by the current."

The S.S. North Carolina was previously searched for treasure by an outfit called MAREX, which salvaged $700,000 worth of coins in the late 1990s. MAREX ceased working the sitein part because the coins were difficult to salvage.

Recovery efforts will continue -- weather permitting -- into November, he says.

Bob writes:

To read the complete articles, see:
19th-century shipwreck is suddenly turning up gold coins off South Carolina coast(https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article235661717.html)
1840 shipwreck reveals trove of gold coins that could be worth million(https://www.foxnews.com/science/1840-shipwreck-reveals-trove-of-gold-coins)