TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 10.1

 

Last time, in Treasure Talk Episode 9, I discussed how I had become convinced we would find gold dust on the S.S. Central America shipwreck site. Contemporary survivor accounts related stories of despondent men pouring out bags and belts full of gold dust onto the decks as the ship was about to go down, realizing that gold was worse than worthless in their impending situation.

Before the SSCA Project I had no experience of gold dust. Zero. Sure. I studied geology and mineralogy at the Ohio State University. And so, as a geologist, 29-year-old Bob might be expected to know a bit more about the science of gold, a mineral, than the average Joe. But Columbus is not exactly the hotbed of gold mining. Resting on thousands of feet of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, OSU was a great place to study fossils, and that is what I did.

On one side of the classroom there was a locked cabinet, with the "valuable" specimens, pieces that the department did not want to walk out the door. You needed to ask an attending TA (teaching associates – grad students) to unlock it for access. Hours for the TAs were known, so you had to be there at those times if you wanted to learn from the good stuff.

It was there, on the second floor of Watts/MacQuigg Hall, studying for Geology & Mineralogy 221, that I saw my first native gold. The locked cabinet had several metallic ore specimens, some with beautiful crystals, works of nature's art. It also held a couple rather unremarkable pieces of gold ore; unremarkable except for the flash and color of the glimmer of tiny flecks emanating from the matrix. I will never forget the color.

The only gold ever found in Ohio (exceeding rare) is found in rocks that the glaciers brought down from what is now Canada. I have never found gold in Ohio. But I have found "black sand," dark metallic ore particles, some of which are made of the mineral magnetite, also originating only in the igneous and metamorphic rocks of Canada. As you might guess, magnetite is magnetic, and it is also heavier than average sand minerals. So, you can concentrate it through gravity separation, with a gold pan. Finding magnetic sand, or the lack of magnetic sand, using a gold pan, is a method for determining the edge of the glacial coverage in Ohio.

When we tooled up for 1988, and found the real S.S. Central America, we included a suction dredge to serve as a vacuum cleaner to clear debris around coins and ingots. We also provided for large sediment traps to catch anything heavy that would be sucked up by the dredge we used to clear our way through the murk and mud to expose treasure. Again, of course, I had a couple gold pans.

I am thrilled that I have had the opportunity to work closely with such a great treasure. But I would like to discuss the "problems" with finding a large amount of gold dust. Clearly, I acknowledge, these are the kind of "problems" many would like to have.

First, let everyone understand that when we found it, it was not MY gold dust, it was the Project's, the Company's. It WAS my responsibility. I was trusted, and I could be trusted. But I wanted to forestall any uncomfortable questions. So, at my insistence, my actions with the gold were ALWAYS either videotaped or witnessed. ALWAYS. My home office assistant, Debbie Willaman, and I often referred to this policy as our "Get Out of Jail Free" card.

When CGMG acquired most of the treasure, at the end of 1999, I left Tommy Thompson's company and went to work for Dwight Manley. I will flatter myself and say that I was like an all-star traded to a new team. Or at least a decent utility shortstop.

But CGMG had no gold dust when I went to work for them. The gold dust, along with all the other native gold nuggets, had been selected by the claimant underwriters as the second of their seven allotted divisions out of ninety. At the Sotheby's auction of the underwriters' portion, in June of 2001, Manley bought some large lots of gold dust on behalf of CGMG.

I fully acknowledge and accept that there must be meticulous record-keeping and accountability. There are reasons for rules, at least for good rules. Often, it relates to what I mentioned before, the metaphorical "Get Out of Jail Free" card. Following the rules keeps you clean. So, the system has rules, and I have rules as well.

Of course, once the court took control in 2013, there were additional layers of bureaucracy. The Receiver, Ira Kane and I had a great working relationship and quickly developed a mutual respect. My first job for him was a complete accounting of the treasure we had recovered. A major concern had been whether Tommy Thompson had absconded with original treasure, 1857 treasure, in addition to the "missing" 500 relic-commemorative Kellogg $50 re-strikes (1250 ounces worth) he allegedly took.

He had not.

No original treasure was missing from the accounting, and my department's meticulous record-keeping throughout the process, from seabed to distribution, proved this to the satisfaction of the very tough attorneys representing those men who sued Thompson.

Ira Kane learned that the integrity of the treasure was of paramount importance to me. Although it was arduous to re-assemble the full provenance and movements of every piece, while under my control a couple decades before, I was happy to do so, clearing up any remaining issues about unreported treasure.

Ira contracted with me to resume my role as Chief Scientist and Historian for a return expedition in 2014. That role came with new rules about reporting, and gold dust recovered at sea presents some interesting issues.

To read the complete article, see:
Treasure Talk: Episode 10 – Part 1 "So, this is gold dust" (https://finestknown.com/treasure-talk-episode-10-part-1so-this-is-gold-dust/)

For the complete series, see:
Category Archives: Treasure Talk with Bob Evans (https://finestknown.com/treasure-talk-with-bob-evans/)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 1 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n12a12.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 2.1 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n13a17.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 2.2 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n14a15.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 3.1 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n15a16.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 3.2 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n17a16.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 4.1 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n18a13.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 4.2 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n19a20.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 5.1 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n22a13.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 5.2 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n23a16.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 6.1 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n27a14.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 6.2 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n30a21.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 7.1 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n32a16.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 7.2 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n40a15.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 8 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n42a21.html)
TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 9 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n49a19.html)

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